DINKY people and Europe's negative birth rate

[green-man-2010.livejournal.com]

All over Europe, people are using contraception.
Well, smart people are. Instead of having half a dozen kids or more, smart couples are having just a couple of kids - sometimes , no kids at all, and spending the money that would have gone on kiddy clothes and baby food on consumer durables and ski trips in Switzerland.

And now, the neocons are worried.
see, my wife and I are both DINKYs - a DINKY is like a Yuppy, but stands for Double Income , No Kids Yet. And seeing as we are both in our 50s, I think the Yet is permanent in our case.

So, when we retire, there are no kids to take our place in the workforce.
OMG! the Neocons wail - hhow can you abandon us? how can you walk away and leave the wheels of industry unmanned? Who will provide the cannon fodder for our next bloody and imperialst war?
Who will work in our factories, clean our cars and do our dirty work for the crap wages we are willing to pay?

And we answer " you told us that you never owed us a living. We therefore think that we don't owe it to you to have any kids. I dunno who will, but just be certain that we won't."

And, as birthrates plummet, and smart women see to it that they don't have kids that the capitalists need to keep the system going, the neocons reach for the panic button. they will import immigrants, they will shout about the joys of motherhood. And smart women will laugh and go on ski trips to switzerland instead of plodding behind a pram through Tescos.

I bet that Mrs Thatcher wishes she had never said ' there is no such thing as society. i bet she wishes she had laid on creches, championed the Welfare state and made motherhood a lot easier and desireable, instead of sneering at the poor. But it's too late Mrs T. Your system kicked us in the face, so we took the Child Free option. Enjoy your bleak and child free future while it lasts.

Comments

[green-man-2010.livejournal.com]

Goodness me. I am not expecting fan mail and here it is. thank you.

I don't despise those who have children because they want to bring a child up in a loving and welcoming atmosphere. But to have children and treat them as economic assets, as a vessel to pour your own prejudices, cultual values and stuff like that into? No, sorry - it is not what kids are for.

Me, I call myself a 'cultural Christian'. I love the architecture, the music of English hymn tunes, and certain passages of the New English Bible that articulate ideals about social juatice and concern for the poor. However, both my dear little nieces, whom I love as though they were my own daughters, have decided that Church going is not for them, and I respect their choices that they have made of their own free will.

I suppose that everything I love about England will one day dissappear, and will be forgotten . But nothing lasts forever. I am just so glad that I saw so many things - like the cities of London and Venice, the lovely beechwoods of Surrey and the Weald of Kent before they all dissappeared beneath the rising waters of the global floods or the next glacier in the next ice age that's coming through.

[magna-carter.livejournal.com]

I don't despise those who have children because they want to bring a child up in a loving and welcoming atmosphere.
Me neither. I applaud parents who do a good job - who bring their kid(s) up to be respectful of others and of themselves, who take an active interest in the education and development of their children, who have the time and energy to encourage their child to follow and be proud of their interests. I have a few friends who are parents and they do an amazing job.

I call myself a 'cultural Christian'.
I'm an athiest, but with my own developed belief system - but, saying that, I've been to see my other half's mum perform in her choir. It was awesome. I also love (some) churches' architecture.
There's definitely some value to religion, even if it's the social aspects of belonging to a group of caring people. I fulfil that human need by surrounding myself with other athiests or vaguely spiritual people and having jolly good debates about death and the purpose of life and living. I'm interested in religions, though. I like to learn about other ways of life.


I suppose that everything I love about England will one day dissappear, and will be forgotten . But nothing lasts forever.
It won't be forgotten. When The Armagedon comes and goes, frantic librarians will be rescuing the history books, photographers will be finding high ground on which to preserve their prints, film makers will be weighted down by masses of media.
So all is not lost. There will be an age of absolute reverence of the past. (And total regret that their parents or grandparents were selfish idiots.)