If you ever encounter me at a party, please do approach. As you can probably imagine, bringing up such things in conversation rarely makes one the "life of the party," and these are exactly the kinds of topics that have earned me a bit of a reputation as a buzzkill lol. Don't get me wrong, I do remember how to let go and just enjoy the moment, but I have indeed said something to the effect of "children can't give their consent to be born into this terrible world and it strikes me as cruel to do so on purpose" at what was probably, in hindsight, an inappropriate situation lol. I will blame it on being a painfully blunt autistic person, which is why I often hang out with the family dog at parties.
I had myself sterilized when I was 23. I decided even a decade before that I would not be bringing children into this world. I love spending time with my nieces and nephews now, and can try to pass on any info or knowledge they may want in the future. For now I’ll just keep rescuing cats and dogs!
See, I'm a huge fan of your work, but I've gotta disagree on this one — it's a subject my best friend and I have debated at length for some years, and this has finally given me an opportunity to put it to writing.
Things are about to get real busy for me in the next month or so, but I will write a response to this piece at some point and tag you when I'm ready to publish. I'd say we agree on everything but our conclusions lol.
In the meantime, more power to you! I admire your consistency and breadth; it's something I aim to emulate.
I appreciate your writing on this subject, Antonio.
I recently republished a piece on my personal experience making the decision not to have children, and what part the structures of capitalism played in that process. Might be interesting to you, especially as you say you’re still on the fence... →
If you ever encounter me at a party, please do approach. As you can probably imagine, bringing up such things in conversation rarely makes one the "life of the party," and these are exactly the kinds of topics that have earned me a bit of a reputation as a buzzkill lol. Don't get me wrong, I do remember how to let go and just enjoy the moment, but I have indeed said something to the effect of "children can't give their consent to be born into this terrible world and it strikes me as cruel to do so on purpose" at what was probably, in hindsight, an inappropriate situation lol. I will blame it on being a painfully blunt autistic person, which is why I often hang out with the family dog at parties.
I had myself sterilized when I was 23. I decided even a decade before that I would not be bringing children into this world. I love spending time with my nieces and nephews now, and can try to pass on any info or knowledge they may want in the future. For now I’ll just keep rescuing cats and dogs!
See, I'm a huge fan of your work, but I've gotta disagree on this one — it's a subject my best friend and I have debated at length for some years, and this has finally given me an opportunity to put it to writing.
Things are about to get real busy for me in the next month or so, but I will write a response to this piece at some point and tag you when I'm ready to publish. I'd say we agree on everything but our conclusions lol.
In the meantime, more power to you! I admire your consistency and breadth; it's something I aim to emulate.
I appreciate your writing on this subject, Antonio.
I recently republished a piece on my personal experience making the decision not to have children, and what part the structures of capitalism played in that process. Might be interesting to you, especially as you say you’re still on the fence... →
https://innerlifecollaborative.substack.com/p/the-man-pays