AIBU to be irritated by Prince Harry's attitude to third and subsequent children?

[Irishgurl]

So my youngest DC is 12. Incredibly aware of environmental issues and is beginning to think of a career in Marine Biology. Already follows environmental blogs, has joined school focus groups for this and keeps our family in check on our environmental responsibility. And is very sad to have read Prince Harry's comments on third children being something that is damaging to the planet. I do find it rather frustrating that I have had to discuss this with a child. The planet is being damaged and no one can deny it. But it is really naive to point the finger of blame on third and subsequent children in a family. It doesn't matter to me how many children you have as long as you bring them up to add something to society rather than take away ( and this includes the environment). The more children the better , as long as they are contributing and making the world a better place? I think he should apologize to all third children ( and 4th and 5th). And that includes his Mother, Prince Louis, my lovely 12 year old and many more fantastic human beings who really don't deserve to be told that they are bad for the planet!

We consume too much and fly far too much in the UK.
Recent data revealed that if in the UK we reduced our flying and consumption to that of an average European, our carbon emissions would go down by a third. I think that’s quite shocking. That we travel and consume that much more than an average European. And that isn’t even compared to developing nations. That is in comparison to an average from other developed nations. We are emitting much more carbon per head.
Another interesting piece of data is that 70% of all flights in the UK are taken by 15% of the population.
Unsurprisingly it seems the wealthiest nations and wealthiest people in those nations are contributing disproportionately to the problem.
So again, it isn’t just about the numbers of people.

@user1493759849 your argument is paradoxical. You and many of your friends and family have multiple children, but you think it’s acceptable to criticise people who may choose to have 3 in the future? We have known about climate change for over 40 years. This isn’t new knowledge.

It's funny really, a couple could have just 2 children for environmental reasons. But those children might not give a toss about the environment. Another couple could have more than 2 children, but these could care more about the planet and do more in terms of looking after everyones future.

Prince Harry does and says some very silly things.

With any luck his next child will be a set of twins or triplets.

Oh, they'll genetically engineer a perfect female embryo, Lil, so they have the right 'balance'.

So sick of people bleating about fucking flying the way Jamie Oliver did about sugar. People travel. They have done so for thousands of years, it won't stop because you want it to. The car, the plane, vaccines, science, they are here to stay.

@TellItLikeItReallyIs
They irony is that the people with about 4 or 5+ children are 9/10 really the ones whose DNA and genetic profile the world really wouldn't miss.

Really? Know them all, do you?

Not sure that your DNA and genetic profile is enhancing the world particularly.

Over population, or excess reproduction, is the worst thing for the planet. It wasn't built for an infinitely expanding population, so at some point, someone has to sound the stop gong.

He's right, you're wrong.

We use up more resources than the planet can sustain every single year (Google Earth Overshoot Day).

Unless you can produce superhumans that don't require food to eat, water to drink, air to breath, clothes to wear, a house to live in, electricity to produce heat and light, a mode of transport ... then every extra person on the planet has an impact. It doesn't matter how much you care about the environment, you are still going to impact it.

What Harry is saying is that two children replace two adults, very simplistically maintaining the population over years. If you have more then you are adding to the population.

There’s nothing more damaging to the environment than having a child. Sorry OP. Anyone who has done a smidgen of research on climate change knows this. The sheer amount of people ignorant to this SHOWS it need to be brought up.

You’d need to persuade 684 teenagers to recycle for the rest of their lives to offset the damage of ONE extra child. So it doesn’t matter how environmentally friendly your little darling is, it’s still selfish at this point to have loads of children.

Source: www.independent.co.uk/environment/children-carbon-footprint-climate-change-damage-having-kids-research-a7837961.html

Children don't have to be 'a drain on resources' if they make educated choices in life

Oh ffs. You are so naive. Please do some research. We are all consumers. Is your kid going to live in a cave growing their own food with no car/electricity/hot water/electronics for the rest of its life?! Of course not. Doing recycling is something we should do but barely makes a difference overall.

I’m a third child... and am not taking it ridiculously personally and getting offended.

Your 12yo is quite old enough for you to tell that he is being ridiculous. But sadly you’re being too ridiculous yourself to do so.

@CalmAndQuiet

user1493759849 So you and many of your friends and family have multiple children, but you think it’s acceptable to criticise people who may choose to have 3 in the future? We have known about climate change for over 40 years. This isn’t new knowledge.

Yes that's right. I DO think people should stick with 2 from now on.

So what?

I don't entirely agree with him - overpopulation is a problem, but as there are plenty of people who have one child or none at all, there's room for some others to have more.

However I can't help wondering if the Queen should have stopped at two...

A bit much coming from someone whose family and offspring are supported from the public purse!

Let's see the royals reduce the number of homes they force us to run, the size of cars they drive, the air miles they cover in private jets and the animals they slaughter while hunting for fun.

Imy a 6th child and I think he's right.

The problem is that talking about overpopulation can be so emotive and gets people so defensive. DH and I have two children, but both feel that if we were starting out now with the knowledge we have now about our impact on the planet, we wouldn't have any. That doesn't mean I don't absolutely adore my children and think they are two of the best humans ever.

We need to be able to have a sensible conversation about the impact of more and more humans on the planet without everyone going 'OMG are you saying darling Jessica shouldn't exist?!"

Well I hope the same “rule” and thought process applies to his brother and wife.
They after are living from the public purse.

Prince Harry was only saying what he felt at the time, don't read too much into it. I've heard people say the same thing often enough, they're entitled to their opinion. Someone like Harry will be asked probing, personal questions publicly and put on the spot; whatever he says will be wrong in some people's eyes.

@matthaig1
Anyone old enough to remember the viciousness of the journalists who went after Diana in the months before she died, for daring to fall in love with a Muslim, must find the Harry and Meghan coverage a rather sinister deja vu.

So what about in our case (not sure how common this is though?)...

I have two children from my first marriage. Fiancé has no biological children, despite always having thr desire to have his own.

Do I tell him we should never ttc because it's bad for the planet?

Sir David Attenborough is also critical if people’s now choosing to have large families

The worlds population has doubled in the last 50 years our needs (and our consumerism) is destroying the planet the more people the more destruction there will be it’s as simple as that

Our children’s generation will hopefully be more responsible and many more will think about the impact of having bigger families because it will and is already becoming an issues that is being debated, discussed and thought about and no one can really argue that having a larger population growth is a positive way forward

My dad was number 8, I am number 4 (for my dad) I really in no way feel offended and agree we have to start thinking about the impact having children has

I fully agree, but You can’t say anything other than the Royals are perfect on here.

So what do we take from this threAd.
Every 3rd child should be aborted. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The choice is yours Rain there are other things for your to consider

Personally I think two children is enough you want more have more but don’t expect people to not have opinions on larger families many people do and when the subject comes up will air their opinions and it’s the right thing to be having these discussions as we absolutely have to slow down population growth