Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Chelsea

what you think? http://www.vhemt.org/
9:16pmSam

hold on a sec
9:18pmSam

totally irresponsible

it's like a rapist commiting suicide because he/she is remoursfull enough to want to die but not responsible enough to right the wrongs done

what do you think ?
9:20pmChelsea

i think they're on to something

n i think it will piss lots off

but.. i dont think theyre advocating shunning responsibility

they're saying fix shit as much as you can but dont bring anymore in
9:21pmSam

if we were to carry out this "plan" the earth would not survive
9:22pmChelsea

what makes you think that?
9:24pmChelsea

(i will be back real soon)
9:24pmSam

we have, cultivated the environment for the last 100 years, and built infrustructure that requires maintainance to insure that is doesn't harm the environment even more than it lready does
9:25pmChelsea

nuclear plants n such?
9:25pmSam

like nuclear power plants. there is no science that solves the problem of turning of a nuclear power plant. if humans aren't around to operate there techology it becomes even more destructive

yeah they talk about that

but the don't have a scientificly backed operation for solving that poblem

not to mention agriculture
9:26pmChelsea

so you think its better to just keep doing what we're doing?
9:26pmSam

if we stop growing in the feild that we have plowed and firtalized for so long nothing except weeds(if that ) can live there

no it's gonna fall apart no matter what soon

but you have to repair these things befor the human race could ever give the earth back to itself
9:30pmSam

i dunno, i just think that humans have a tendancie to demonize themselves when they feel like they have exasperated all other options
9:32pmSam

what have you been up to ?
9:46pmChelsea

meg is here. was downstairs talkn to her
9:46pmSam

sweeeet!!!
9:47pmChelsea

ever heard of the world without us? it predicts nature bein pret-ty good at overcoming what was here

made by us of course
9:48pmSam

never, sounds cool though. i guesse our tendencies to demonize and our tendencies to pretentiously claim our necesity are just tendencies

?

or something
9:49pmChelsea

some sorta scewing

or not
9:50pmSam

what do you mean ?
9:50pmChelsea

it's all real i supppose sometime i never decide to side anywhere xcept sometimes its everywhere

skewing probably
9:50pmSam

yeah

you should watch that movie collapse
9:51pmChelsea

n its all just a real as the next
9:51pmSam

or beter yet
9:51pmChelsea

i'm reading the book right now
9:51pmSam

read a michael rupert book

this is true

isn't it great!!1

witch one are you reading ?
9:52pmChelsea

jared diamond yeah?

collapse: how civilizations choose to fail or succeed
9:52pmSam

no i'm talking about michael rupert he wrote many books and a movie just came out called collapse and it's just an interview of him

that sounds sweet though
9:53pmChelsea

hmm havent heard

collapse is a buzzword these days
9:53pmSam

yeah, this is alot about peek oil and things of that nature
9:54pmChelsea

so you think it is better to have a child than not?

what if...
9:54pmSam

i think it's better to be truely happy and on a dying planet than to be truy miserable on a living one
9:54pmChelsea

industrialized societies gradually choose to not bear children
9:55pmSam

but i think you can be truely happy in any situation environmentaly

partialy due to there inability to provide for said child
9:56pmChelsea

right

mostly
9:56pmSam

as population microscopes the "better than i had it" mentality that parents hold is lost because the society is unable to keep a standard of living growing
9:56pmChelsea

ok and then "developing" countries that are reproducing the fastest end up being the ones to move in and decide what to do next?

what if yr happiness in said environment is dependent upon the unhappiness (i.e. death) of other species?
10:00pmSam

i don' beleive that rue happines could ever be found in that situation by annyone ever

but that cant be eplained in numbers or facts i guesse
10:00pmChelsea

so do you think anyhuman is truly happy right now?
10:00pmSam

yes

many
10:00pmChelsea

can it be explained with experience and "gut feelings"?
10:01pmSam

i am every once in a while and i think you are too

i can explain it to myself verry easily but i couldn't ever dream of explaining it to anyone els
10:01pmChelsea

i have always been spiritually distressed i think

no need to explain. i surely feel happiness
10:02pmSam

i think being the change you want to see is much more profound and humanity-changing than anything els
10:02pmChelsea

i've always been so sensitive that it seems impossible to be happy knowing how so many feel

i agree
10:03pmSam

initiatives, laws, cultural pressures don't realy impact people to move and change onl to fear

me too
10:03pmChelsea

but it shouldnt disgregard the change that has taken place in the past
10:03pmSam

but that sensitivity in my case is insecurity and guilt

no it shouldn't
10:04pmChelsea

its mine too but some of it feels pitiful

insecurity, guilt, shame, pity, all such ugly words

excpet pity is so close to pretty. which may also be an ugly word
10:05pmSam

yeah
10:05pmChelsea

i want to feel right now instead of worrying about tomorrow. is that too much ?
10:05pmSam

thery are prety words if they are in the context of the past and totaly iradicated from the present
10:05pmChelsea

conquered concepts
10:05pmSam

i try that every day and when it works it feels great
10:06pmChelsea

yes but still the reality for so many breaks into my consciousness n it hurts.

guess it has a lot to do with what i study

depressing points of view i hear

but mostly from the mouths of those who feel it. quite convincing
10:07pmSam

if you think about how others feel their pain, your feeling more than they are in many cases, how does that help them ?
10:07pmChelsea

never said it did

i think its pitiful. the very definition of the word
10:07pmSam

i know but how i that logical?
10:07pmChelsea

but it does motivate me to make change. to be change
10:08pmSam

then its not pitifull, just maybe making it harder for yourself
10:08pmChelsea

or to throw flag up n try jump ship ;))

ive always been this way
10:09pmSam

i wanna be on a ship

or in the ocean
10:09pmChelsea

yr brother is on one
10:09pmSam

hows my bro doin ? did you see him ?
10:09pmChelsea

i just went to visit!
10:09pmSam

i thought he go t off
10:09pmChelsea

yes hes good we went to ocean and forest

hes back at sea for long time
10:10pmSam

sweeet

is he happy ?

how long ?

it;s his birfday
10:10pmChelsea

just wait to see pictures
10:10pmSam

i'm so sad i can't see my brother right now, i just got supper sad in my stomach and eyes
10:11pmChelsea

s'ok

be sad.
10:11pmSam

i no i no
10:11pmChelsea

he seemed swell.
10:12pmSam

good

and how are you ?
10:12pmChelsea

i don't know if i believe that anyone is truly happy, but i don't even know if that actually exists

happiness truthfully
10:13pmSam

it's never sustained
10:13pmChelsea

i don't think i am. i feel spurts
10:13pmSam

but it's there
10:13pmChelsea

right exactly
10:13pmSam

i'm sure you've seen it

i feel so happy i cant even sit still some times
10:13pmChelsea

what if it could be better? what if this is just a shade of what it could be?

me too but so spurtful

like you said, not sustained
10:14pmSam

it can be better

first step towards it is letting go of control

which will probly take me my hole life
10:15pmChelsea

when i think about the largest possible context the lbiggest picture i feel totally happy

in knowing this never ends

but can improve
10:15pmSam

totaly
10:15pmChelsea

letting go of control? i say realizing yr own control as human as one of all

instead of just one

that didnt come out right
10:16pmSam

but you don't control anything but yourself is what i mean
10:16pmChelsea

realizing the power of all of us together sorta business

i think differently
10:16pmSam

yeah totaly
10:17pmChelsea

influencing goes a long way. i suppose not exact control but .. yeah

sorta control

or laws

attempted control
10:17pmSam

yeah there is power it's just not verry much
10:17pmChelsea

or religious following

power i one or a group?

in
10:18pmSam

anywhere

we are free, imagine if you where unable to feel despair how much you would crave it, and maybe not beleive it exists
10:19pmChelsea

we are free

we succumb though
10:19pmSam

yep yep yep

to ourselvs

no one makes us do anything, just trick us

black magic
10:20pmChelsea

n sometimes can't escape the consequences of our neighbor's actions
10:20pmSam

we never could in the first place
10:21pmChelsea

so then agency is somewhat irrelevant?
10:21pmSam

i gotta go to bed, sorry gotta wake up early early and work work for mony money to be happy happy happy

no irrelevent just not important ?

thats a good question
10:22pmChelsea

ok

impact?
10:22pmSam

no dads shop :(:(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q1oDmANIXc&feature=related

chck this out it will only make ya sad though
10:23pmChelsea

will you make me a tshirt with the wonderwoman logo or a picture of her on it?

and a pari of cotton shorts to match?

i will give you money on friday
10:23pmSam

yep

ok ok ok
10:24pmChelsea

i asked harrison but he was bein a punkwad as usual

size medium
10:24pmSam

ok cool
10:25pmChelsea

luv you sam

sleep well
10:25pmSam

have a good night, i wouldn't trade these lite FB convos for the world

love you tooooooooo!!!!!!!!
10:26pmChelsea

fb convos. lets talk for real soon
10:26pmSam

ok ok sounds spectacular
10:26pmChelsea

kbye
10:26pmSam

bye

sootful lungs

eighth (to)day non-smoke this said on repeat but some reason says it is now for the thinking heavens to betsy n a sooty soot ride home beneath sun-filled nebraska forest patch just before nìbthàska yknow ? a dreamy weekend inside hall of mosses n atop cancertree-lined (sadfullest) cliffdrop overlook horizonlong spanse of wide-open sea voracious consuming tree only to spit out upon beach

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Meet the women who won't have babies - because they're not eco friendly

By NATASHA COURTENAY-SMITH and MORAG TURNER

Last updated at 22:05 21 November 2007

Had Toni Vernelli gone ahead with her pregnancy ten years ago, she would know at first hand what it is like to cradle her own baby, to have a pair of innocent eyes gazing up at her with unconditional love, to feel a little hand slipping into hers - and a voice calling her Mummy.

But the very thought makes her shudder with horror.

Because when Toni terminated her pregnancy, she did so in the firm belief she was helping to save the planet.

Incredibly, so determined was she that the terrible "mistake" of pregnancy should never happen again, that she begged the doctor who performed the abortion to sterilise her at the same time.

He refused, but Toni - who works for an environmental charity - "relentlessly hunted down a doctor who would perform the irreversible surgery.

Finally, eight years ago, Toni got her way.

At the age of 27 this young woman at the height of her reproductive years was sterilised to "protect the planet".

Incredibly, instead of mourning the loss of a family that never was, her boyfriend (now husband) presented her with a congratulations card.

While some might think it strange to celebrate the reversal of nature and denial of motherhood, Toni relishes her decision with an almost religious zeal.

"Having children is selfish. It's all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet," says Toni, 35.

"Every person who is born uses more food, more water, more land, more fossil fuels, more trees and produces more rubbish, more pollution, more greenhouse gases, and adds to the problem of over-population."

While most parents view their children as the ultimate miracle of nature, Toni seems to see them as a sinister threat to the future.

It's an extreme stance which one might imagine is born from an unhappy childhood or an upbringing among parents who share similar, strong beliefs.

But nothing in Toni's safe, middle- class upbringing gave any clues as to the views which would shape her adult life. The eldest of three daughters, she enjoyed a loving, close-knit family life.

She excelled at her Roman Catholic school, and her doting parents fully expected her to grow up, settle down and start a family of her own.

"When I finished school, I got a job in retail and at 19, I met my first husband," says Toni.

"No sooner had we finished our wedding cake than all our relatives started to ask when they could expect a new addition to the family.

"I always told them that would never happen, but no one listened.

"When I was a child, I loved bird-watching, and in my teens that developed into a passion for the environment as well as the welfare of animals - I became a vegetarian when I was 15.

"Even my parents used to smile and say: 'You'll change your mind one day about babies.'

"The only person who understood how I felt was my first husband, who didn't want children either.

"We both passionately wanted to save the planet - not produce a new life which would only add to the problem."

So, instead of mapping out plans for a family, Toni and her husband began discussing medical options to ensure they would never reproduce.

Toni, from Taunton, Somerset, says: "When I was 21, I considered sterilisation for the first time.

"I'd been on the Pill for five years and didn't want to take hormone-based contraception indefinitely.

"I went to my GP, but she wouldn't even consider the idea.

"She said I was far too young and told me I could 'absolutely not' be sterilised, and that I was bound to change my mind one day.

"I found her attitude frustrating.

"We decided my husband would have a vasectomy instead. He was 25, just a few years older than me, but the GP allowed him to go ahead.

"I found it insulting that she thought that, just because I was a woman, I'd reach a point where an urge to breed would overcome all rational thought."

When Toni was 23, her marriage ended. She says: "We married very young and grew apart."

Toni found herself young, single and with a new life in London, working for an environmental charity.

But while other young women dream of marriage and babies, Toni was convinced it was her duty not to have a child.

She claims she was far from alone.

"Through my job I made many friends who, like me, were more interested in campaigning, trying to change society and save the planet rather than having families of our own.

"We used to say that if ever we did want children, we'd adopt, as there are so many children in need of a loving family.

"At least then, we'd be doing something positive for the world, rather than something negative."

Toni was happy, at last, with fellow environmentalists who shared her philosophy. But when she was 25, disaster struck.

"I discovered that despite taking the Pill, I'd accidentally fallen pregnant by my boyfriend.

"I was horrified. I knew straight away there was no option of having the baby.

"I went to my doctor about having a termination, and asked if I could be sterilised at the same time.

"This time it was a male doctor. I remember saying to him: 'I want to make sure this never happens again.'

"He said: 'You may not want a child, but one day you may meet a man who does'. He refused to consider it.

"I didn't like having a termination, but it would have been immoral to give birth to a child that I felt strongly would only be a burden to the world.

"I've never felt a twinge of guilt about what I did, and have honestly never wondered what might have been.

"After my abortion, I was more determined than ever to pursue sterilisation.

"By then, I had my mother's support - she realised I wasn't going to grow out of my beliefs, and was proud of my campaigning work."

At the age of 27, Toni moved to Brighton, where her dream of medical intervention was realised.

Toni says: "My new GP was more forward-thinking and referred me to hospital. I couldn't wait for the operation."

As Toni awaited the surgery which would destroy her fertility, she met her future husband, Ed, 38, an IT consultant.

"A week before my sterilisation, I went to an animal rights demonstration and met Ed.

"I liked him immediately, and I told him what I was doing straight away - because if he wanted children then he needed to know I wasn't the woman for him," she says.

"But Ed was relieved when I told him how I felt and said he didn't want children for the same reasons."

On the morning of surgery, Ed gave Toni a card saying "Congratulations".

Toni says: "After the operation, which is irreversible, I didn't feel emotional - just relieved.

"I've never doubted that I made the right decision. Ed and I married in September 2002, and have a much nicer lifestyle as a result of not having children.

"We love walking and hiking, and we often go away for weekends.

"Every year, we also take a nice holiday - we've just come back from South Africa.

"We feel we can have one long-haul flight a year, as we are vegan and childless, thereby greatly reducing our carbon footprint and combating over-population.

"My only frustration is that other people are unable to accept my decision.

"When I tell people why I don't want children, they look at me as if I was planning to commit murder.

"A woman who does not have maternal-feelings is seen as some sort of anomaly.

"And a woman like me, who is not having children in order to save the planet, is considered barking mad.

"What I consider mad are those women who ferry their children short distances in gas-guzzling cars."

But Toni is far from alone.

Stephanie Dank
population is not as big of a problem as anti-breeder sentiment asserts. the bigger problem than scarcity is distribution- a few privileged at the top with the power to the resources. and it's going to remain that way if those are the only people having children.
Tue at 4:52pm ·
Tara Shotkoske
i agree with stephanie here. there aren't enough good people in the world. plenty of nasty ones. So let them win? I have a hard time with this article. Also, I don't think that "climate change" and "destruction of Earth" are really as bad as the world is led to believe.
Tue at 4:55pm ·
Patrick Joseph Kowal Fanciullo
um.....here's an idea....don't have sex. There's no need to mutilate yourself when there is such an easy alternative. But I do understand their logic on not having children.
Tue at 5:02pm ·
Chelsea Richardson
resources are finite in relation to our lifetime. population is only increasing. i will respectfully choose not to bear children so that yr children may live in a world that much less burdened. climate change is not "bad." it is one of the many feedback mechanisms that serves to balance so that the world may go on --which might not be such good news for the human species.
Tue at 5:07pm ·
Melissa Foged
i understand the logic. not that i agree with it, or maybe i do. i want to have babies for my own selfish reasons i suppose and i also think that one of the points in life is to procreate. however, if there are people out there ( i would call them radicals but not judging) who take such extremes as to completely X out the possibility of having a child then that is there prerogative. i think its right bc a woman should be able to do whatever she wants to her body. its not right bc i think her perspective is just as radical as flying a plane into a building. having beliefs, ideals, dreams, plans.. whatever, is all good. wanting to save the planet, great. not wanting kids, fine. but she just sounded a little crazy to me.
Tue at 5:19pm ·
Mandible R Huckins
personally, i applaud this woman for being so committed to her beliefs (as an alternative to offering solutions to the population problem which she refuses to personally execute).
Tue at 5:19pm ·
Chelsea Richardson
ps i see privilege slowly shifting, but it doesn't seem to be moving fast enough. and are those now enjoying these amenities joining the gang or forging a new path to a sustainable reality?
Tue at 5:20pm ·
Tara Shotkoske
I don't think its selfish to want children, its part of human life, if our parents didnt have us where would we be? if their parents did have them? etc. the purpose to life, though this opinion may differ with religious beliefs or whatever, but its to live love and create and partake in the creation of this world. how can we live and thrive and create if future generations are being killed off by current ones? While few can hold to belief that this planet is "over-populated" what if we all did? where would we be? this is just a bizarre thought to me--kill my unborn baby so that I can save the world? don't have children so that I can save the world? what happens when our generation is dead?
if people dont want to have kids, don't have kids. I mean some people just dont want to, and thats fine. but I don't find this to be applicable to everyone on the planet. Life holds more of a purpose than using up resources and it seems that that is what this article is claiming: another human life will take up too much of our life (?)
oh.. i could go so many directions in how i feel about this subject, but i understand that you and i do not hold the same convictions. and yes...i do think those who are now enjoying these amenities (most of them) are "joining the gang" as you say.
Tue at 5:31pm ·
Stephanie Dank
all i know is that i'm trying to 'forge a new path to a sustainable reality' and am happy to be taking my son along with me. however, as a mother, i feel like this anti-breeder stuff is very anti-feminist and just happens to be packaged in environmentalism. i don't appreciate being called immoral for having children- how is that any better than the other way around?
Tue at 5:32pm ·
Owen Stuckey
I don't think she's advocating that every mother stop having children, or yes, that would lead to an eventual extinction of the human race, which is exactly what she's trying to stop. I just think that since she was unable to find a way to change people's minds about overconsumption, she'll just take it to another level, sacrificing her own biological need for offspring so that either other people, the planet, or herself can be more in balance. People take this veerrrryyyy personally....
Tue at 5:34pm ·
Melissa Foged
tara and stephanie- oh fo sho!!!! i huuurrrrrddd that! i really like stephanies line " this anti-breeder stuff is very anti-feminist and just happens to be packaged in environmentalism".... thats just perfect, couldn't say it any better.
Tue at 5:35pm ·
Jessup Mckelvey
this article is two years old. reguardless of which side you lean, it hasn't become a movement. disturbed or compelled, whatever. you have the power to fuck shit up in your own way. yay!
Tue at 5:35pm ·
Owen Stuckey
Humans are here and part of this world just as any other being is....we just tend to be a tad more irresponsible and greedy with the resources offered to everybody..."tragedy of the commons"
Tue at 5:35pm ·
Tara Shotkoske
"humans are here and part of this world just as any other being?" really? thats a bold statement. I mean, when did you last see a dog discover oil, build a building, help the oppressed? human life is precious, i believe that to be true, and that is why I take things as such personally.
Tue at 5:37pm ·
Owen Stuckey
it's a bold statement to make that humans are special just because they discovered oil. animals are altruistic, intelligent, and a hell of a lot less disastrous on a global scale. all life is precious, I believe that to be true, and that is why environmentalists take it so personally.
Tue at 5:39pm ·
Tara Shotkoske
im not saying humans are special just because they discovered oil, im coming from a Christian perspective, so while you defend what you believe, I will defend what i believe. I suppose I just have a hard time leveling out the value of life: dog = human.
Tue at 5:41pm ·
Saber Blazek
doggod
Tue at 5:43pm ·
Jodine Ellen Annin
Or perhaps we can all keep producing and giving life, but while doing so, learn and teach ourselves to be conscious of reality and get up off our lazy asses and encourage others to do something about the way we treat this planet.

and i like sweet potatoes too.
Tue at 6:29pm ·
Chelsea Richardson
first of all, thank you owen.

i am by no means an anti-breeder, but i do believe that a significant portion of the human population is going to have to refrain from reproducing if there is to be a future habitable by human life. if matter is neither created nor destroyed, and the population continues only to increase, what will all the people eat when everything is made of people? i like sweet potatoes and lilacs personally. can we at least keep those?

the truth is that the few supposedly in power (we do make conscious decisions everyday about what to consume) are not the only people reproducing. the most impoverished of people are generally those having the most children for a whole host of reasons, mainly economic. more hands to help and lack of access to birth control and/or lack of education about birth control. the population is growing wildly and mostly into the poorest of families.

this article is but one example of a thought on the mind of many. it's all about deciding how living yr life will be happiest; for some it is to birth and/or nurture a child. indeed there are many critical thinkers who are choosing to direct their energy toward sustainable (or less unsustainable) lifeways (stephanie is an example of this, and i'm happy yr son is alive). for others, it is to focus fully on learning about how to ensure a future for the many lives we will inevitably touch. for still others, it is to pursue a personal passion one may not otherwise be able. personally, i don't know whether i'll adopt a child or decide to direct my energy elsewhere, but i sure am happy i have a choice. yay!
Tue at 6:40pm ·
Pamela Richardson
All I know is I want more grandchildren Chelseabug! But on a serious note, I do appreciate the intelligent, thought provoking conversation going on here. I'm glad you're all in charge of my future.
Tue at 7:31pm ·
Anne Smith
i know a girl at work has many kids from many men and the end of the year they fill her pokets with our taxmoney why should they stop they got a good life so they think
Tue at 7:38pm ·
Anne Smith
my daughter didnt want children because she said the world has nothing to offer anymore
Tue at 7:39pm ·
Jeffrey Koster
Wow, this is satire right???
Tue at 8:29pm ·
Sydnee Buresh
This woman frightens me.
Here's my thought:
Lots of babies are born, sure. But at the same time, lots of people die. These children born into impoverished families are unfortunately less likely to live full, happy, environmentally destructive lives. I also think that there are a lot of women in our generation-and likely, generations to come-that are not thrilled with the idea of having children.
I, for one, don't want kids. Not because it's bad for the environment or because I think it's selfish. In fact, I'm TOO selfish to have children. They're so much responsibility and I just don't want to have to deal with it. The man I I plan to marry feels the same, so as of now, there will be no little Sydnee/Jasons running around. Ever.
I also think that, if our resources are so limited, we're going to run out eventually anyway. Why not let the current generations be happy with or without their children? When we get to the point where we are drastically low on resources, we'll panic. Until then, just roll with it. We can't live in fear of what could happen with every action we take.
Tue at 9:12pm ·
Mandible R Huckins
i think it's a little weird that environmentalism is so often pitted against religious groups. of all the dominant (and oldest) forms of Chrisitianity, it is 21st century America's socially conservative brand that reeeeeally pushes against the concept that people are supposed to be good stewards of the Earth's resources, because it isn't theirs,it's presumably God's. I'm not any religion, but I'm really interested in reading and learning about all of them. Just happens that "creating more life" is not the point of life to plenty of Christians all across history and geography (can you say "nun"?). also, i find it problematic to equate reproduction, or mothering in what ever other way, with feminism.
Yesterday at 12:38am ·
Michael Perdue
I have the best idea for supporters of this BS....my new PR campaign for eco-friendly narcissists. I will call it, "JUMP FOR THE PLANET", a creative attempt to nurture mass suicides of the guilt-plagued, hand-wringing huma-phobes to save resources for those of us for whom the earth is a home to be loved, appreciated, and , oh yeah, used for OUR benefit.
Yesterday at 10:33am ·
Michael Perdue
It seems women's studies really teach useless BS...is a "degree" in this field of ANY use to the positive momentum of any place? I suggest a sabbatical to some desperate shithole like Russia where population decline is a sickening REALITY!! I think disasters like Haiti, the tsunami in Indonesia, huge earthquakes in Iran, etc., must be greatly celebrated by your ilk, after all, if it isn't your sorry ass suffering, then what is a few hundred thousand less people to foul up our crappy planet?
Yesterday at 10:43am ·
Chelsea Richardson
Let me be clear: I am by no means an anti-breeder. I never advocated the abortion of all pregnancy (nor would I), and I never advocated the end to all procreation of human life (nor would I). What I am advocating, however, is the thoughtful contemplation of the ramification of unfettered procreation at this point in time FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE PROLIFERATION OF LIFE ON THIS PLANET. Where do you draw the line? Do you truly believe that people can just keep multiplying without consequence? Do you think that Earth itself is growing larger in proportion to our population?

And no, I do not think that all animals should stop having babies (let me repeat: I also do not think all humans should stop having babies); there are copious amounts of species of other animals that are going extinct in direct relation to our growth. What I am advocating is awareness. What I am advocating is balance.

I cherish life, and that's why I'm thinking about these things. You are a wonderful person that I admire and respect, and I am incredibly grateful for the existence of Andy, Hannah, Ian, and Neve, four more minds that have been raised by intelligent, thoughtful, and progressive people.

It is not my intention to preach to all people to stop having children. Some people will have to (or else we'll go extinct!), and some people want to. I just happen to be one that has decided FOR HERSELF that pregnancy is not on my agenda. I posted this link to get conversation going (which worked!), not to convince all that they should think just like myself.

PS My degree is in Anthropology.
Yesterday at 11:06am ·
Michael Perdue
ok, I need to leave soon, I appreciate dialogue as well. I need to leave you with a thought heard a few evenings ago..if you go into Morrill Hall and check out the extinct species, you find horse(small), etc. I have heard that natives here had 4 domesticated species, horse not one...the theory for their extinction is that they were hunted to thatpoint! Natives here in Iowa made homes from tree bark...farmed until the land gave out, and moved on. Is that the idea that we generally have when dreaming about a "balanced" planet back in times of yore? hardly. Some theorists even believe we have oil that is unending. Theories, and not popular, either. How do we know? We don't.
It is just amazing how people of differing opinions are always attempting to sway someone else. Usually for the worse, mass murderers, "Christians", Islamic hate-mongers, etc. And now, outright delusional eco-friends. i used to be sure the world was a dump when I was a kid, and the USA was a trash-filled, rivers-on-fire mess...but, if you think it is hopeless, then why do we have EAGLES(NEVER when I was young), wildcats, millions of over-pro-creating deer, munching their way through MY resources..Sure, there are many troubling things that anthropology can teach about the past and the present, but reason and evidence convince me, that the human mind is far more dangerous than the human footprint. Mike
Yesterday at 11:42am ·
Jihan Najjar
this summer i traveled to new delhi, india. i have seen the troubles of overpopulation first hand. i've seen families of 5 living on the streets, the crippled crawling on the ground, small children knocking on the car windows and begging for rupees. i have also seen the many condom stands and the lack of people, particularly women, patronizing them. overpopulation as well as contraception are issues that should be recognized worldwide.
Yesterday at 12:09pm ·
Jeffrey Koster
Not wanting to have kids is one thing and having it end right there is perfectly fine, but in order to save the planet, that's scary scary territory. I'm glad to see there are people who know enough to not let this one slip through. Overpopulation is a problem, and this kind of simplification is frustratingly counter-productive to the real issue. But as one comment in the article said slyly, maybe it's better they don't procreate...!
Yesterday at 12:52pm ·