Is procreating a selfish act?

[Prevenger17]

Only downside is they probably become Tories in the process.

At that point, your best hope is that they become a Bruce Wayne type tory and not the Peteblue type

 

[chrismpw]

Why did the trading arm of the Japanese firm Sumitomo recently lose more than a billion dollars in its commodities trading operations?
Because its copper trader believed that copper prices had to go up eventually.
Why did a recent article in The Wall Street Journal report that, "Despite Risks, Colleges Dabble in Commodities"? Because the investment managers for Harvard and other universities do not understand that the prices of commodities fall over the long term. On average, they will also fall in the short run and simply cannot be compared with other stock prices.
Why do sophisticated traders believe that the prices of commodities will rise rather than fall? Because they believe that our economy must eventually use up the fixed stocks of commodities, making them more scarce on the market.
And why do they believe that commodities will grow more scarce? For many people, the idea that resources are finite is at the source of this belief. But the idea of finiteness is a prejudice and it is not supported by available facts.
Incredible as it may seem, the term "finite" is not only inappropriate, it is downright misleading when applied to natural resources. The mathematical definition of "finite" is quite different from a useful economic definition.
For instance, the quantity of services we obtain from copper should not be considered "economically" finite because there is no way of counting them appropriately. We should also consider the possibilities of using copper more efficiently, of creating copper or its economic equivalent from other materials, of recycling copper or even obtaining copper from sources beyond planet Earth.
Therefore, a working definition of the total services that we could obtain from copper now or in the future is impossible to construct.
Now more than ever before, this is easy to see. After centuries of slow progress using the familiar materials of stone, wood and iron, science is attaining an undreamed-of ability to create new materials.
The first auto-engine parts made of silicon and carbon (water-pump seal rings) are being installed in Volkswagens. Engines could soon be made of silicon carbide, cutting weight and emissions in addition to replacing metals.
Palladium instead of platinum can now be used in auto-exhaust emission systems. Ceramics engineering is exploding with new knowledge, putting an end to past generations' worries about running out of metals.
Organic plastics can now be blended with glass to yield a material as strong as concrete, but flexible and much lighter. And a feasible way to make heat-resistant plastics using gallium chloride has been found. Plastics are now made only from fossil fuels or the oils from plants grown in fields. But researchers have recently found ways to convert agricultural products, like potatoes and corn, into direct sources of plastics by inserting plastic-producing genes into them.
In light of these developments, concern about running out of commodities seems ever less sensible. Just as the number of points in a one-inch line can never be counted, the quantity of natural resources that might be available to us, and the quantity of services that they can give us, can never be known.
Well-wishers have advised me to "admit" that resources are limited to the capacities of the planet, thinking that this will keep me from "losing credibility."
But I continue to argue that these quantities are not finite.
As soon as I would "admit" that there are only, say, seven billion years of energy left, some doomsayer would start to calculate backward. The doomsayer would argue that the sun's measurable size and rate of energy output means that the supply of energy is finite for next year.
But that's a physical estimate, not an economic definition of "energy" - not any more than the number of copper atoms in the Earth's crust is a useful economic definition of "copper."
I continue to stand on the ground of non-finiteness, because I have found that leaving this ground causes more bad arguments than standing on it does. While I doubt that many people's judgment will be affected by what I write on this issue, there is little temptation to trim my sails to this wind.
There is little temptation to do that which is offensive to me - "admit" something that I do not believe is so.

This is an economic version of the emperor's new clothes. Some very fine words bandied about in a manner to convince economists. Economists, if they fall for this, are not scientists however, if they believe that a planet can have infinite resources.

It is true that we can re-use materials and develop new ones, but neither of those things constitute infinite. To carry on using resources under the delusion that they are infinite is just a poor way of justifying the destruction of our environment to pursue greed. It is economists and their drive for acquisition that are destroying the planet. I am beginning to understand why.

 

[Goat]

This is an economic version of the emperor's new clothes. Some very fine words bandied about in a manner to convince economists. Economists, if they fall for this, are not scientists however, if they believe that a planet can have infinite resources.

It is true that we can re-use materials and develop new ones, but neither of those things constitute infinite. To carry on using resources under the delusion that they are infinite is just a poor way of justifying the destruction of our environment to pursue greed. It is economists and their drive for acquisition that are destroying the planet. I am beginning to understand why.

Well im not a climate control denier.

I realise that WE need to do more to maintain the health of the planet.

 

[Bungle]

I long thought it's an irresponsible thing to do on a planet with finite resources, and a growing population that is already unsustainable.

I think most people do it because it seems the normal thing to do and some for vanity - like a child is an accessory. Society needs educating on the consequences - about 30 years ago.

We need relics like you to stop clinging onto life and free up space for the kids, you're actually being very selfish.

 

[chrismpw]

We need relics like you to stop clinging onto life and free up space for the kids, you're actually being very selfish.

Given that I was seconds away from being under my car when it rolled off its ramps, I appear to be doing my very best to comply with your wishes you motheaten hearth rug.

 

[Bungle]

Given that I was seconds away from being under my car when it rolled off its ramps, I appear to be doing my very best to comply with your wishes you motheaten hearth rug.

Always happy to roll over you with my car if yours isn't up to the job.

 

[LinekersLegs]

I always though to combat loneliness you took a partner to share your life with.

Or join a football forum where there is someone to laugh/debate/hurl abuse at 24/7

 

[Goat]

Or join a football forum where there is someone to laugh/debate/hurl abuse at 24/7

 

[efcforever]

I think they are very much in the minority still, despite what the Tories tell ya. Interesting take on it, but I see it as very selfless really, I work 6 days and dedicatate most of my free time to ensuring my two have the best quality of life possible and expect nothing back at the end, just hope they have a great life and think I'm alright really.
I see them as a pair of Porsche 911's I never had.

Yep. You don't expect anything from your children. You just want them to be happy.

 

[efcforever]

I'm preparing my speech to give to my youngest soon:

Son, now your 5 your at the age where you have have to take on certain responsibilities and the weight of burden that my Dad passed on to me at that age. Life isn't all fun and games, it is a harsh mistress where you have to mentally strong to take setback after setback and just when you think things are turning for the better, your nuts immediately get clamped into a vice until they explode.

To prepare you for this that's right I'm taking you to Goodison for your first game. Now I can share the pain with someone, it's the only reason I had kids.

I have a 1 year old son and there's no chance he's getting away with it either. He's going to be a blue and we'll suffer together.

 

[Rob17896]

Bit of an odd way to present to subject but I can see the logic in not wanting the population to increase when we’re in the middle of a climate crisis.

I have never thought about it and too late now! Cant understand it.

 

[Woolverhampton_Blue]

It is indeed a very primal and selfish act to burden the planet with another little human just so you can feel like you’ve contributed something to the world.

You have to be incredibly selfless to actually be a good parent though. Won’t be having kids, I’m far too selfish.

 

[dholliday]

Sure, you work really hard to raise someone but at the end it is just selfish is it not?

Someone has to do it otherwise the human race would become extinct.

Respect to those that do, and respect to those that don't. But that some do is essential, clearly.

Regarding over-population: equal rights for women & gays solves this issue quite naturally. The world is hopefully catching up in this direction.

 

[zzr45]

You know what is selfish? Not procreating with me. Women should be willing to share their eggs. Especially if they are a goth at a bus stop.

 

[Goat]