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Anti-natalists: The people who want you to stop having babies
They believe humans shouldn't have children. Who are the anti-natalists - and how far are they willing to push their ideas?
"Wouldn't it just be better to blow a hole in the side of the earth and just have done with everything?" Thomas, 29, lives in the east of England, and although his idea of blowing up the world is something of a thought experiment, he is certain about one thing - humans should not have babies, and our species should gradually go extinct.
It's a philosophy called anti-natalism. While the idea dates back to ancient Greece, it has recently been given a huge boost by social media. On Facebook and Reddit, there are dozens of anti-natalist groups, some with thousands of members. On Reddit, r/antinatalism has nearly 35,000 members, while just one of the dozens of Facebook groups with an anti-natalist theme has more than 6,000.
They are scattered around the world and have a variety of reasons for their beliefs. Among them are concerns about genetic inheritance, not wanting children to suffer, the concept of consent, and worries about overpopulation and the environment. But they are united in their desire to stop human procreation. And although they are a fringe movement, some of their views, particularly on the state of the earth, are increasingly creeping into mainstream discussion. While not an anti-natalist, the Duke of Sussex recently said he and his wife were planning to have a maximum of two children, because of environmental concerns.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday August 14 2019, @04:01AM (4 children)
I won't tell you how to do you, you don't tell me how to do me. Unless you just have a fetish about being told to fuck off.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by qzm on Wednesday August 14 2019, @04:49AM (3 children)
Didn't you just describe what democracy isn't?
Just saying...
(Score: 2, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday August 14 2019, @04:58AM (1 child)
Yup. Democracy is a fucking terrible form of government. That it's a little less terrible than all the others doesn't mean it shouldn't be as limited as possible.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday August 14 2019, @06:42PM
Well, it's a nice paraphrase of a famous quote, but it's not exactly a true statement.
The basic idea of a democracy is that if the biggest gang wins, nobody's going to argue, because they'd lose. It's true, within certain bounds, but it sure doesn't guarantee a good government. If it did the police forces would be a lot smaller. It *would* be true if the choice were really binary and along one dimension, but it isn't really, even though all the propaganda always depicts it that way. But just try to get "majority required to win" adopted. There are all sorts of "special interests" who would prefer that a majority was not required. (One way to get "majority required" is instant runoff voting, called IRV.) That would get the most popular elected...which sure doesn't mean the ones that are doing what is really needed.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 14 2019, @05:04AM
He described all* governments. Every government, short of one where you are the sole despot, is someone else telling you what to do. And even then, in order to maintain control, you have to meet certain demands or be overthrown or assassinated.