Saturday, June 21, 2008

At Least She's Honest

So a friend of mine lives in this mid to late twenties, preppy, cha-chi apartment complex that I call "the breeding grounds." All of 3 years ago you could find a place to park, but as these 20 somethings started meeting other 20 somethings, the parking lot gets fuller and fuller. Then little ones started sprouting out. And now it's impossible to find a parking spot.

To accommodate this demographic increase in the number of parents, the apartment management purchases a subscription to "Parent" magazine and leaves a couple free issues in the atrium. I'm not a parent, not do I care much for children, but I occasionally pick a copy up and peruse. And I do believe there is a Blogging God out there, because I grab this morning's latest issue, opened it up and BAAM!!! The Blogging God (who I shall name Morty) forced the magazine to open to something I've always suspected and was outright scary;



Now, like I said before, I shall never have kids. I've spoken about the rates of return you can realize on a vasectomy, but just how it's so defeatist that "oh, yeah, you pretty much give up your life and couldn't care less about your spouse. Your spouse is just there to make the kid happen, and then after that he/she is more of an annoyance. Sex is a chore and a bore. But, you know, that's life and this sad existence is all worth it because you have a kid." Or "there only is so much love to go around" as if love is in a limited quantity.

B as in B.

S as in S.

If this is a prevalent mentality in society today, then to hell with having kids. Aside from not having a kid be one of the smartest moves you can do financially, this psychological mentality that we're just drones to spit out children and then ignore your spouse means there's a cost to kids beyond finances and it's your life, your soul, your sentientness.

This also goes a long way in explaining when I'm at Target or Best Buy, buying GTAIV, Metal Gear Solid 4, or Army of 2, and I see a mom with her screaming child/children why her face is very somber looking, very depressed and very defeated, drawn out, broken. Lifeless and listless. And why I'm relatively happy knowing I'm going home to play a video game and my only major chore is to clean the toilet and water the garden.

To all the single and kidless economists out there, aspiring, junior, deputy, official or otherwise, go buy yourself and drink and toast one to yourself. Life could be a lot more lifeless.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have my 8 month old daughter sitting here in my lap as I am typing this comment. Yes, I now have little free time and there is less marital activities than before she was born. However, she makes me so very happy and I wouldn't trade her for anything.

I was traveling for work this past week and had my evenings free to go to the bar and shoot pool with my co-workers as well as go to a baseball game. I had fun, but the whole time I wished I was home with my little girl.

My only advice to potential parents is just don't have kids until you're ready. Travel, by yourself some toys, and live it up when you're younger. After a while, then you'll be ready to have a family.

Servius said...

If playing your video games gives meaning to your life, more power to you.

Anonymous said...

I know this is irrelevant, but have you seen the Economist magazine page on Facebook?

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13515455681

Anonymous said...

Confirmation bias?

--JB

Captain Capitalism said...

I'm sure kids can be fine, but it was just the cynicism or hopelessness of the statement that has me scared even more of kids now.

Sorry, it's going to be me, my wife, tons of sushi, tons of trips, lots of sleeping in and a competition who can spoil the other one the most.

Anonymous said...

Chooses not to reproduce. Here's your Darwin award.

Anonymous said...

[quote]If playing your video games gives meaning to your life, more power to you.[/quote]

People trying to create meaning by making more people is entirely circular. Improving your own existence, on the other hand, is not. If you enjoy raising kids then good for you, but don't go pretending that having kids automatically makes your life somehow more meaningful than the life of someone who doesn't have kids.

Value is subjective, which puts you in a tough spot if you want to prove objectively that having kids is more meaningful than some other activity. At least people who play video games for fun never unleash a menace on society if they happen to suck at games, unlike bad parents.

Anonymous said...

Come on! It's not *that* bad. My wife and I waited until we were 32 before we started. Some part of me wishes we did it sooner, but we have two *very* energetic children to keep us busy/entertained/happy. Sure, there are some troubling times, but we always try to make time for each other and *still* have sex at least once a week.

Besides, if you don't have any, that just means that there is likely to be at least one less soldier fighting for the Capitalist way! Guess who has no problem popping them out though? No need to answer that one. If you need a reason, there it is!

Brandon Berg said...

On the other hand, reproducing has positive externalities. If we all stopped having children, it would be a disaster once we started to hit retirement age. It doesn't matter how much you've saved for retirement if there's no one producing goods and services for you to buy. And the more people we have, the more innovation we're likely to see.

Moreover, these externalities are greatest for the children of intelligent, educated parents. Given that such people are overrepresented among the readers of your blog, using your blog to promote a child-free lifestyle strikes me as unwise. Your message is most likely to get through to the people whom we most want to reproduce.

AWGB said...

Moreover, these externalities are greatest for the children of intelligent, educated parents. Given that such people are overrepresented among the readers of your blog, using your blog to promote a child-free lifestyle strikes me as unwise. Your message is most likely to get through to the people whom we most want to reproduce.


Captain Capitalism is simply proving the evolutionary argument, as set forth in the movie, Idiocracy. VIDEO.

Servius said...

"but don't go pretending that having kids automatically makes your life somehow more meaningful than the life of someone who doesn't have kids."

Raising children is not a sufficient cause of meaning in life but for those who are able it is a necessary cause.

I suppose I should have added contrary to the original commenter. Have your kids early while you have the energy.

Anonymous said...

It always amazes me - those who get angry when someone refuses to have kids.

Like that mconnell poster with his darwin comment-

Jealousy is so easy to spot. So is insecurity.

Anonymous said...

That article is right. Being a Parent has taken away who I was and who my wife and I are to eachother. I didnt want kids but she wanted them right after we got married.She wanted two but had an accident that gave us three. Back to back. It is hard. I love my kids but everything in life has gone downhill since my son was born and now I have a stale marriage and she maxes out my credit cards that I have to pay off because she doesnt make as much by being a babysitter. I don't feel like myself anymore.I am just a Dad who works all the time and wishes he never got married.