having babies despite the state of the world

[TruthOnTrial]

I am wondering about any that are contemplating pregnancy at a time when the world weather is in crisis, fires ranging out of control across Aus, also california, and others. Floods regularly now around the UK, tornados even and more extreme weather generally, a summer just gone with record heatwave temps.

Many are making a decision to not start a family as the continuing viability of life on earth is ever more unsure.

Half a billion animals killed in the Aus fires alone. People having to lock themselves indoors and residents considering leaving Aus for good.

Is it U to consider bringing future children into this?

There are roughly 2 billion children in the world.

Half of them are starving, with no clean water, no heating, no adequate shelter, no education and no adequate medical help.

What’s your source. As the ones I have found don’t support the numbers you say.

There are far too many children and adults hungry and in bad situations but using hyperbole and figures that aren’t right undermines your point.

It is not at all comparable to WW2, which I'm sure was awful at the time. There won't be a better time afterwards with a nice NHS new service and free university education and then a nice pensioned retirement that can be spent going on cruises.

50 million people died in WW2. Then the Cold War came, Korea, Vietnam, MAD, Afghanistan- which led to Islamic terrorism and all the consequences of that!!

• climate or not, being a grandparent is no given anyway Your kids dont have to have kids even if the world were all hunky dory*

Absolutely agree with you. But what I feel awful about is that they will be robbed of the choice - that the world will be so terrible by the time they are old enough that no one in their right mind would feel any joy in being a parent.

Well, that's the first time that I've heard WW2 described as "I'm sure was awful". Rather reduces the cataclysmic effect it had on millions doesn't it. (hmm)

"Shock face" fail!

The planet is ever changing. Human beings are impacting that, and our interaction with (and position within) our environment will change - it may become harder etc. But human beings have survived worse.

I think Baba thinks WW2 was the Dambusters with a bit of rationing on the side.

Is this what you are getting at?
I read that there are 200,000 more people (extra people as in births minus deaths) each day.
So really, there's not much we can do. There's definitely nothing we can do to stop Australia getting worse - the heat we have now is the consequence of emissions from 30 years ago.
I think most people are happy hoping that it won't impact them or their families.

And sorry it was 70-85 million who died in ww2

Idiots will always continue to have children. Some educated people have to also have kids or society really will be fucked.

We are facing entire ecosystem collapse. Once this begins, there will be no way back, no end to it, no eventual peace. No politicians will be able to pull us back from it. Our planet will become unlivable. We will be in a state of perpetual destruction, with the best case scenario being that some wealthy people are able to horde enough resources in small enclaves to keep life bearable for a few more decades.

Honestly? I believe it is hyperbole that this (or anything remotely approaching it) will happen in our lifetimes.

It is comparable to the Cold War though.
At that time, the USA and USSR were on the brink of nuclear war. They had enough nuclear warheads to destroy the entire planet 200x over. And I mean ALL life on Earth, animal and plant. The nuclear fall out would also kick off a thousand year winter that would destroy any seeds or deep sea life that somehow managed to survive the radiation that would last hundreds of thousands of years. The oceans would boil from radiation.

To make things worse, they both had told each other their policy was mutual assured destruction, or MAD for short. So if either one sent even one tactical nuke, then the other would launch ALL their warheads to towards the other plus their allies.

Every year the super powers would piss off the other one by messing with a satellite country or ally. Spies and agents were sent in...some to try and set off that first nuclear warhead which would start the end of the world. The earliest hackers would try and get missile codes or hack into the computer systems and remotely launch war heads, to end the world.

The entire planet could be destroyed in 48hrs and could start at any moment.

It is a horrid thing to say but if the population of the planet were to, say, fall from 6bn to 2bn in the next 20 yrs, the majority of that reduction would not be from populations in the UK, Europe or the USA.

I expressed similar to my therapist recently. He said something to the effect of "well if all of the people who care about the world and other people stop having kids, only people who don't care will; then no one will be taught to give a shit, and then we will all be truly screwed".

The sooner the human race burns itself out, the better, really.

This is a completely ludicrous statement. How would you measure that matters are better and for who/what

Better for the planet and all the other species we share it with.

Actually, crocodiles are loving the warmth. When they evolved, there were no polar ice caps. Palm trees grew as far north as the arctic circle. The average temperature was 5-8C hotter than it is today.
Going another 2C warmer would be fine for them.

As with all climate change over the past 4.5 billion years, there are winner and loser species. The only climate disaster where all species lose would be the nuclear war scenario.

I never considered not having children because of the state of the world but it certainly has influenced the number of children i'm planning to have which is 2. One to replace my DH and I when we pass away. Then I feel like we're at least not increasing the population but rather sustaining it.

I had DS in 2013, I decided not to have any more children after that.

Better for the planet and all the other species we share it with.

For cats, dogs, horses?

It’s a big claim but not provable —basically bullshit—

Planderaccordement

It is exactly this.

Give us peace with this Virtue signalling drivel.

Humans are part of nature. Creatures are driven to procreate. Maybe a constructive approach to solving problems rather than this nihilistic nonsense might help make things better.

There has never been a better time than this to be born. Or was it better when back when people died of smallpox, scurvy, plague or wars raged across the planet?

Ridiculous.

We are actually living in one of the most privileged generations in history. Worldwide poverty has hugely decreased, as has war and starvation. Life expectancy is up. Read the spectator article PP mentions and maybe follow up with Steve Pinkertons book, Enlightenment Now.

We are facing entire ecosystem collapse. Once this begins, there will be no way back, no end to it, no eventual peace. No politicians will be able to pull us back from it. Our planet will become unlivable.

It was about time I heard another doom theory. I didn't hear that we were all going to die since the maya calender ended in 2012.

OP, by all means don't have kids. Me? I'm a more positive thinker. My kid is the one that will save the world.

“ without human activity the world and the rest of nature would recover and come back into balance.”

There has never been balance. Almost every single species which has ever lived on earth has become extinct, and this has been happening for billions of years before humanity even existed.

Exactly right streetwise Hercules.
There is no such thing as a balance in Earths climate. It has always changed (and we are well within the extremes it has gone to) and all this has prexisted humans.