December 09, 2004
All I got for Christmas was some abuse virus
Happy Families
LOL.
But I must point out that, as ever, my argument against reproduction is structural, not personal.
Infinite Thought rightly makes the distinction between misanthropy at a species level - which we share - and misanthropy at the level of individual people, which we don't.
As anyone who has seen me cooing over them will know, I like children. It seems to me, however, that all too often it is parents - grim faced, drained, irritable - who don't like their children. The message their joyless dutifulness sends to children couldn't be clearer: you are a burden, you are sucking the life out of me, but - 'in my heart' - I love you. And you must redeem me, make my life worthwhile (because I can't do it myself).
It's an old trick. Just ask Jahweh.
Obviously obviously obviously this is not all parents. But I've seen enough examples to know that such a syndrome is far from anomalous.
Posted by mark at December 9, 2004 04:42 PM | TrackBack