this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2023
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The next years are going to be fun… The world is burning while the fossil fuel industry is chugging along like everything is great as long as you buy enough co2 credits.

I’m scared in what kind of world my children will have to live in…

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Climate change is one of the biggest reasons I don’t want children. I can’t put blinders on and then feel zero responsibility for dragging them into a hopeless nightmare.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

For my wife and I it was initially economic but now we would not have natural kids even if we bacame rich. might adopt if that happend. I am so glad we are not older because if we had been we might have had kids before realizing what a cluster everything is.

[–] braxy29 5 points 1 year ago (3 children)

i have kids. i actively worry about how miserable their future may be. i try not to talk about this stuff to them much because i don't want to scare them with it. i don't think there's anything i or they can do (except maybe vote).

[–] grue 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

i try not to talk about this stuff to them much because i don’t want to scare them with it.

IMO that's exactly the opposite of what you should be doing. Frankly, what we need is for folks to be raising a generation of Greta Thunberg-types.

See also the bit about "weaponized hopelessness" in the Kurzgesagt video mentioned elsewhere in the thread.

[–] acupofcoffee 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Once my kids get older they will be taught science properly, and they will be fully aware of the seriousness of our situation.

I know people keep saying “I don’t want my kids to suffer” but the fact is the only way out of this is getting more younger people out there AND ENGAGED to make a difference. Your child could discover a breakthrough to solve the problem, who knows? More population isn’t the real problem, it’s what that population does and what corporations do in support of those choices.

I’d rather have taken the shot and failed instead of never trying at all (born and tried instead of never born).

[–] grue 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

More population isn’t the real problem

Having up to two kids per couple isn't "more population" anyway. It takes 2.1 kids, on average, just to replace the older generation as they die off.

[–] acupofcoffee 2 points 1 year ago

And you see the negative effects of this in many countries.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally get not having kids for financial reasons. I have kids myself, it’s been incredibly difficult. We’ve had to find the money and make ends meet, but at the end of the day we’ve been able to do it.

[–] masquenox 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Your child could discover a breakthrough to solve the problem, who knows?

There's no "breakthrough discovery" needed to solve the problem - we've known how to solve this problem for more than a hundred years now. It's called "dismantling capitalism" - and it's still our only way out.

[–] acupofcoffee 2 points 1 year ago

The proletariat is treated by the bourgeoisie the same as a mob boss treats his underlings.

Just good enough to make them comfortable, but not too comfortable to elevate themselves or no longer need them. Comfortably uncomfortable.

I agree with you, but half the US believes certain people aren’t actually people, so we have a long way to go to dismantle the problems of our world economic structure. An armed reform will just lead to authoritarianism, always has.

[–] kaffiene 5 points 1 year ago

I feel you. I have kids too. I fear for their future.

[–] JudgeHolden 3 points 1 year ago

On the flipside, it's also true that if we all simply give up and don't have kids because the future looks so bleak, by definition we are admitting to a kind of psychic defeatism and epistemic hopelessness. Having kids is one of the best ways for regular people to have any hope of influencing the future.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Partner and I are child free and this is a big part of it.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I really hope I’m wrong. Also, I love Kurzgesagt! Thanks!

Edit: I wrote that just before watching the video. I hadn’t even considered the idea of “weaponized hopelessness” that they talk about near the end, and how bleak thoughts and apathy ultimately help the fossil fuel industry. Good stuff!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Here's something to consider about their videos though..

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I appreciate the link, but Kurzgesagt is so anti-corporate so much of the time that I don’t think this is a significant issue. The above video of theirs is a great example. They’re not afraid to call out the man.

[–] masquenox 1 points 1 year ago

I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but Kurzgesagt just peddles capitalist greenwashing.

Capitalism will never fix the problem it has caused - never.