livin veg

The Duggar family has "19 kids and counting"

It’s a controversial argument to be sure, but many eco activists believe that having children is a sin as big as driving one hundred hummers when it comes to being kind to the environment. After all, nothing we can do takes up more resources than putting another human on an already overpopulated planet. Even if you raise the most humane kid in the world, the human species is still growing faster than the earth can handle. The Story of Stuff does a great job of illustrating this point.

I happen to agree with this argument. Having a child seems to be an entirely selfish endeavor. A basic human right to be sure. But still, knowing that the earth is already bursting at the seams, selfish. I say this and yet, my husband and I want a child.

Due to a variety of reasons, including the overpopulation crisis, we plan on having one biological child. If we want more, we’ll foster or adopt.

I know other activists who don’t plan on having any children because they are so dedicated to making the world better. This seems counter to so many people’s perceptions of what makes the world a better place. Surely, some people think, raising a kind child who might change the world one day for the better is the choice of an activist. But why not do the work ourselves instead of putting those hopes on our offspring?

Consider what we do to other species when they start to use more resources than the environment can handle. In my area, the issue is deer overpopulation. What do they do? They cull the herd. Obviously, I’m not calling for a culling of the human race. (I’m against it with the deer and would prefer birth control options.) Just illustrating the point that humans do recognize when other species become a menace to the local ecosystem. Well we, my human friends, have become a menace.

The decision on whether or not to have children is emotional. Humans, like any other species, are programmed to want to procreate. It takes a very logical person to be able to fight back those urges and to limit the number of children they have. Perhaps with people waiting longer and longer to have children, the population will in part, reduce by itself. Either way, people should start looking at procreation as an environmental issue. This doesn’t mean I’m pro sterilization or taking away people’s reproductive rights. But I do believe that people should consider more than themselves when deciding how many children to have. If they know the issues, perhaps they might consider having a smaller family. That’s what I’m doing.

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