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Is it safe to have a child? Americans rethink family planning ahead of Trump’s return
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2024
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collapse of the old society
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what if I don't care about your genes outliving mine?
My friend (not american) had 3 miscarriages and then a baby at 40. Even in a country with a year of mat leave and a month of pat leave they are fucking exhausted.
Add to that I am in America, in a Southern RTW/AWE state so get 0 pat leave, my wife gets 0 mat leave, and if she miscarriages she could be executed by doctor inaction or prosecuted for daring to not carry a baby to term.
Considering I could get as much longevity in my legacy by being part of several group Guiness world records, have had my work written about in the NYT, am mentioned in passing in a book with an ISBN and am mentioned (again, minorly in passing) on 3 Wikipedia pages - why risk my partners life, health, freedom and endure the hardships to actually raise a child well when there are other ways to ensure you are remembered for roughly 60-80 years?
You don't have to care. In fact, caring doesn't make too much of a difference, some, but not defining.
The better adapted pass on their genes, the less so, well, don't tend to. Was there some part of evolutionary biology you misunderstood?
No, everyone who breeds passes on their genes. The "better adapted" (to what?) could be killed in a fire before they reach puberty, and people with hereditary diseases have kids.
It only has to be good enough to survive to puberty and birth, puberty and birth. Whatever it is you're thinking of as some kind of superior gene would only affect humanity if it were passed on by millions of people who had it, and it proved to be such a boon it meant they could have kids while others can't.
There is currently no natural pressure on humans to not have kids. There is nothing, technically speaking, preventing me from having a baby with a supermodel, an athlete, a wheelchair user...