this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2026
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My fiancée and I just flatly say we can’t have kids and that shuts most people up.
Never mind the reason why we can’t have kids is because we don’t like them.
While we also choose a child-free existence, it wasn't until some close friends had kids that were awesome that I realized I don't dislike kids. I dislike shitty parents.
That said, I can go meet up with people whenever I feel like it. I also have lots more disposable income. It's pretty great if it's what you want anyway.
Why not ? People don't like many thing, they are allowed to not like kid aren't they ?
Well it's because of the notion that the very reason of being alive is to propagate more life. That's the fundamental nature of life because without that there would be no life. So if you think that life is worth while, it would be logical that you contribute. Otherwise it would be somewhat selfish. And such a mentality of not wanting to sacrifice one's freedom in order to be a parent and take on that responsibility comes across as immature.
I don't think you should have kids if you don't want to. I'm just explaining why some people find it bad and upsetting that you don't.
not having kids = selfish has got to be in the top 5 dumbest arguments i've ever heard, especially considering that kids today and their kids and so on are destined to grow up on a toxic hellscape wasteland planet.
"oh the kids will fix it"
LOL so not having kids = selfish, but having kids so they can fix the problems of the last couple hundred years = generous. got it
and you're confusing "purpose of life" with biological instinct. yes, all living things from bacteria and viruses on up the evolutionary ladder are hardwired to engage in behavior that results in the passing on of their genes. "purpose" is a cognitive construct invented by philosophers who couldn't stand being just animals. there's no formula for it, or even quantifiable evidence that there is such a thing. so my "purpose" is to not have kids
I think it's always seemed like the world was going to hell. It's all relative.
I don't care if you have kids. I don't really care if humans go extinct. I'm happy to be alive so I'm glad my parents wanted to have kids,
it’s not, that you can’t tell is a personal failing on your par
there's billions of people in the world, there's zero impact on whether the humanity will continue or not. being upset at someone for not procreating is silly and having kids just for the sake of propagating life as if people were scarce is ridiculous.
It's just a logical argument such as if everyone decided not to have kids, humans would go extinct pretty quickly. Not that I really care. I'm happy to be alive so I'm glad my parents weren't against having kids.
i get where "if everyone does that then it'd be bad" comes from but it doesn't apply here, if you look around do you realistically see it as a necessity for everyone to have kids to save the humanity from going extinct? if one or few people says that they don't want to procreate, will every single person in the world follow suit? in case that i live my life without having kids, what's the worst that will happen to humanity because of my choice?
i'm also happy to be alive, but i also have reasons why i don't want to have kids and it's not like i'm taking life away from someone with that decision.
All good in my book. Don't have kids if you don't want to. I'm just explaining where the notion comes from.
Sure you not having kids won't cause the population to collapse. But it's a bit the same as you not throwing your garbage in the trash - one person doing that won't make a significant difference.
well, i was explaining how the notion is baseless. no realistic amount of people deciding not to have kids due to personal reasons are going to make the world go anywhere near extinct (or make any meaningful dent at all) and anyone being upset at other people for not having kids for any reason is a very silly individual who should focus on minding their own business instead.
Is this a comment from a virus
Yes
that's a whole fuckin paragraph to say "they're nosy and entitled" - and it's absolute garbage. " if you think that life is worth while, it would be logical that you contribute. Otherwise it would be somewhat selfish. " utter fucking garbage. only people adding to the population pressure of OVER 8 BILLION FUCKING HUMANS are worth it? everyone else is selfish?
STOP FOR A MOMENT AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING.
8 BILLION +, AND YOU INSIST THAT MORE ARE NEEDED OTHERWISE IT WOULD BE SOMEWHAT SELFISH?
gotta be a fucking troll
Actually the world population is starting to decline. People have value. I'm not sure what the optimal world population is, but as it goes down it's going to be painful as demographics shift.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_Eight_Billion
You think it's starting to decline, the evidence is remaining to be seen.
Talk to me when we hit 7.5bn and we can start to care.
go away
Well I doubt I'll still be alive when we get back down to 7 billion and are in free fall.
Yes I was wrong when I said population was in decline. The rate of population growth is slowing down, so we can predict a decline starting in like 50 years.
Human population is not declining. The acceleration rate of population increase is decreasing. It's still going ever faster and faster, just a little less faster than we were. And it's still an absolutely staggering, incomprehensible population increase.
And then there's the animal farming to consider. Hey, what happened to the Amazon?
Are asexual people selfish? Are monks who don’t fuck selfish? Are infertile people selfish? Are people who adopt instead of having bio kids selfish? Do none of these people count as “life”? I pronounce you fully ridiculous.
No. Yes. No. No. They all count as life. Yes, I am ridiculous, but not for explaining why people might see those who chose not to have children as selfish.
Irrelevant.