"our fellow progressives need to stop thinking of having children as a conservative hobbyhorse and reclaim it for what it is: a fundamental human concern." [WUT?]
"To be sure, having children is not the only way to address this question. But having children remains the most basic and accessible way for most of us to affirm the value of our lives and that of others."
"But progressives must not let partisan loyalties stop them from thinking about the ways in which having children does or does not express their values, and what shape they really want their lives to take."
[I am sorry but this sentence is legitimately BONKERS]
In fact, there is nothing like parenting in capitalism for making progressives shrink their communities and violate their stated values. Everywhere I look, I see progressive parents reassuring each other that it's OK to ignore the collective good if it's for the sake of our kids' "success."
Hmmm, seeing now that their definition of living a "progressive" life without children means prioritizing "professional self-discovery and fulfillment" which is...grim.
Oooh, ask me about the time I sat on a board (progressive religious institution, practically radical) and then someone told me the way they're primary donations/giving? PAYING FOR THEIR KIDS PRIVATE SCHOOL TUITION "because that's how we make the world better, through them". I almost fell down.
These folks always tell on themselves because they so clearly don't believe their kids have autonomy of *any* kind. Physical, mental, you name it. just control through another path.
sure, maybe the pro-natalist far right seems to be building serious momentum at the moment as a way of dogwhistling great replacement theory, but what if liberals did eugenics too? Really makes you think
Can't speak for anyone else, but the way *I* get to it is that the rationale outlined is about reproducing ideology via children. That's what's really going on with eugenics (since the biology of it is bullshit).
Sure, people who have no children have given zero thought to what shape their lives want to take or what their values are.
Also this whole thing is quite obviously homophobic/heteronormative.
Lastly: fuck off.
it seems that one of these authors is a moral philosopher who studied at Harvard and UChicago, and I gotta say, trying to get progressives to have more kids just by (incoherently) telling them to *feel* better about it, seems very on brand for someone with that pedigree
this paragraph is driving me up a wall, partly because it ignores how *having* children robs you of your agency, and partly because it is extremely philosopher-brain to blame liberals' "logic" for robbing them of their agency, rather than the material conditions they live under
Wow. That's quite a lack of imagination about accessible ways of affirming our values. And it vastly overestimates the accessability of raising children for many, many people.
[ author quickly paper bag tests the room ] uhhhhh no no no not at all
but like in addition to that its so alien because its just bougie libs talking to bougie libs like its a lifestyle choice rather than "every public service has been plundered and everything is more expensive" being a factor
If the US were like other countries they would pay women to have children, but that would mean paying women of color or increase immigration, so they ban abortion instead.
Wow. That’s bold to say when children and other human beings are being bombed to bits on the daily. I’d like to affirm the value of their lives by our government not bombing and killing them.
“The stark polarization of today’s public discourse has only heightened the left’s wariness of children, both privately and politically.”
The only ‘polarization’ is right-wing policies which punish poor people for having children. What a crock of shit.
What I find bizarre is that this mostly doesn’t seem to be about people not having children, but about people having children in their 30s rather than their 20s, which the writers are very concerned about for some reason
This part is just staggering ignorance. "Hey, it's totally fine to be pregnant as long as you stay in your home state for the duration of those 9 months, so come on why don't you want to have kids?" Outrageous.
I have kids and I absolutely don’t get how they fail to mention the huge cost of reproduction. Neoliberal discourse about individual choice and self-fulfillment obscures how the state uses the family form to do violence, AGAIN
What a weird article. Way to mash up "family-friendly" with "have lots of kids whether you want them or not." Also apparently having children is apolitical as long as you choose to have some.
tl; dr: it's stupid for women to employ reasoning in their decisions about reproduction.
