Look at me, I'm so edgy
If
I had to choose just one, I would say that the most ridiculous and
transparent statement ever made by many young idealistic leftists is
that they choose not to have children because they don't want to bring
children to this world because it is so bad. (Of course, few people who
say such things ever bother to point out some past era when the world
would have been good enough for them to have children.)
Me and my wife are voluntarily childfree, but I never, not even for one second, try to pretend that this choice would be for me about anything more noble than simple selfishness and personal comfort. (Insert that semi-famous letter to Ann Landers here.) I guess that this is why it is so trivial for me to see through this delusion that one can so often see boldly stated by some "rebel" of the progressosphere.
I might be wrong, of course. Perhaps somewhere out there, there really is some woman or couple who would really like to have a child, not just in principle but with an actual intent, but because of some teen angstian idea such as "in Africa, many people are starving because we don't care enough" or "our society doesn't fully accept transsexuals as they are" decides to forgo having children altogether. Perhaps. I just find it very difficult to imagine such people existing in the real world any more than a talking banana. But what I do find extremely easy to imagine are people who don't want children but are unable to admit their real selfish reasons out loud, so they instead go on posturing that their decision to remain an evolutionary dead end is some kind of a bold sociopolitical protest. As such people gradually go through several sets of friends, always losing touch with the previous set once they breed, they will eventually congregate with each other, with predictable results.
Now, since I am also an avid reader of the conservative blogosphere, I have come to understand that there is some kind of "clash of civilizations" going on, and the West is currently losing it since its people don't breed even in replacement levels. The previous delusion tends to continue here so that the same leftists ask "So what?" since West is evil anyways. Curiously, they then go on argue that as the populations of the Western nations gray and wither, the third world will take over to uphold the individual freedoms, science and rationality of the West. (Actually, scratch the last two items, since we are talking about leftists here, and the "individual freedoms" that they mean are essentially the freedoms to mooch.)
I find such optimism, the sheer belief that the third world cultures would rally behind e.g. the gay marriage and wealth transfers to single mothers so that they could live more independent lives somewhat naive, almost endearing when you think about it. I just really want to pat these people on the shoulder and say "there, there". Seldom does one see such trusting belief in the inherent kindness of their fellow humanity.
Of course, in reality this whole thing is just one more instance of the typical leftist belief that all oppressed groups (that is, everybody who is not a white heterosexual man) are just as enlightened as they are and want the same things as they do. In other words, every other culture out there is inherently the same as American college leftism but just with a more exotic culture of cuisine, and would act accordingly if the Evil White Males just weren't there to oppress them. Somebody is due for a pretty huge disappointment here: the leftist ideology rarely survives an actual contact with the people that it claims to represent.
But if there really is such a clash of civilizations, I have to admit to my eternal shame that I have chosen to follow the proverb "The war does not need one man" (or whatever the idiomatic formulation is in English) and note that since we are talking about hundreds of millions of people here, the bunch of kids that I could potentially have wouldn't make much of a difference to the overall result. These kids would have a very striking effect on my comfort and standard of living, though, so I'd rather not. There is a downside to everything, including individual freedoms.
Me and my wife are voluntarily childfree, but I never, not even for one second, try to pretend that this choice would be for me about anything more noble than simple selfishness and personal comfort. (Insert that semi-famous letter to Ann Landers here.) I guess that this is why it is so trivial for me to see through this delusion that one can so often see boldly stated by some "rebel" of the progressosphere.
I might be wrong, of course. Perhaps somewhere out there, there really is some woman or couple who would really like to have a child, not just in principle but with an actual intent, but because of some teen angstian idea such as "in Africa, many people are starving because we don't care enough" or "our society doesn't fully accept transsexuals as they are" decides to forgo having children altogether. Perhaps. I just find it very difficult to imagine such people existing in the real world any more than a talking banana. But what I do find extremely easy to imagine are people who don't want children but are unable to admit their real selfish reasons out loud, so they instead go on posturing that their decision to remain an evolutionary dead end is some kind of a bold sociopolitical protest. As such people gradually go through several sets of friends, always losing touch with the previous set once they breed, they will eventually congregate with each other, with predictable results.
Now, since I am also an avid reader of the conservative blogosphere, I have come to understand that there is some kind of "clash of civilizations" going on, and the West is currently losing it since its people don't breed even in replacement levels. The previous delusion tends to continue here so that the same leftists ask "So what?" since West is evil anyways. Curiously, they then go on argue that as the populations of the Western nations gray and wither, the third world will take over to uphold the individual freedoms, science and rationality of the West. (Actually, scratch the last two items, since we are talking about leftists here, and the "individual freedoms" that they mean are essentially the freedoms to mooch.)
I find such optimism, the sheer belief that the third world cultures would rally behind e.g. the gay marriage and wealth transfers to single mothers so that they could live more independent lives somewhat naive, almost endearing when you think about it. I just really want to pat these people on the shoulder and say "there, there". Seldom does one see such trusting belief in the inherent kindness of their fellow humanity.
Of course, in reality this whole thing is just one more instance of the typical leftist belief that all oppressed groups (that is, everybody who is not a white heterosexual man) are just as enlightened as they are and want the same things as they do. In other words, every other culture out there is inherently the same as American college leftism but just with a more exotic culture of cuisine, and would act accordingly if the Evil White Males just weren't there to oppress them. Somebody is due for a pretty huge disappointment here: the leftist ideology rarely survives an actual contact with the people that it claims to represent.
But if there really is such a clash of civilizations, I have to admit to my eternal shame that I have chosen to follow the proverb "The war does not need one man" (or whatever the idiomatic formulation is in English) and note that since we are talking about hundreds of millions of people here, the bunch of kids that I could potentially have wouldn't make much of a difference to the overall result. These kids would have a very striking effect on my comfort and standard of living, though, so I'd rather not. There is a downside to everything, including individual freedoms.
Refreshingly honest, and witty and civil.
And you're quite right about the Leftists envisioning Third Worlders upholding gay marriage. Sympathy is called for.
Eric R. Ashley
Posted by Anonymous | 11:56 PM
Actually as one of those "leftists" (meetings are at 7PM at the vegan cafe, the password is Noam Chomsky), I can say that it's the height of ignorance for white conservatives to proclaim they know the mindset of liberals. Any more than it would be accurate to say that white western conservatives hate individual liberties and want to reinstate Old Testament morality. Except for the parts that deal with greed and hoarding.
Why is gay marriage such a big issue with heteros? Does this affect you in any way whatsoever?
Posted by Agent Jackson | 1:15 PM