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Why people feel the compelling need to make carbon copies of themselves to fill up our already poisoned planet is a mystery to me. Besides, kids make you old, stupid, trapped and broke. Childfree is the way to go.

Up to the task?

No.

Welcome to parenthood.

That's all right, I think I'll pass.

What's the most reason people stay in jobs they hate? "Well, I have a family to think about . . . " That's right, once you decide to make a genetic copy of yourself, then they really have you.

A lot of the world's problems would be solved if people would simply stop having kids for awhile. Me, I live a childfree lifestyle and couldn't be happier. The only regret I have about getting fixed is that I didn't do it sooner.

Childfree. No kidding. Yes, I'm really sure it isn't going to happen.

a family to pay for.

Don't bother me with your self-imposed problems.

Child-free, baby!

I don't see what's fucked up about not wanting people who can't afford children to have them. Some people shouldn't have children. But you know, people can lead full, happy lives without having children (infact, studies show childless couples are happier). But to answer your question, it depends on how poor they are. Can they afford to reasonably feed, clothe, etc the children? And do they have a backup for when the grannie dies? Because when people that can't afford children have them, people like me pay for it. I pay for it when my taxes go twards welfare, I pay for it when an unsupervised youngster who's parents are both at work acts out in a cry for his parents attention by throwing rocks at and breaking my windows, I pay for it when I can't sit in my own front yard with my dogs because they don't like strangers and unsupervised children try to come up and pet them. I don't want to pay for it by having to give up all M rated games when enough people give in to this bs belief that they have something to do with real-life violence to ban all of them.

In my experience, if you're good, and people pick up on that, it almost always pays off.

On the note of a stable income and job security: although things might not be fantastic at first, eventually, in my opinion, contracting can be much more secure than full time employment. Instead of having all of your eggs in one basket and relying on one organisation for all your income, you'll instead likely end up with your income spread across many sources, making it much easier and less of a problem to switch to another source of income when one drops you.

Also (not mentioned on Slashdot very often in such topics) is that really useful and common sense concept known as... saving. One is going to worry a lot more about not having work if they didn't have the sense to save up a few thousand before going freelance. I'm sure you'll have no doubt taken that one into account but it seems that the idea never occurs to others.

And on a fairly unrelated, much more personal and none-of-my-business note (but maybe worth mentioning while there's still time), there's a lot to be said for not having kids.

Good luck with it!

BTW, you may wish to consider the word "childfree" instead of "childless".

I'm not one for mamby-pamby PC-speak, but this one actually has merit, in that it actually describes something useful.

"Childless" connotes loss - as though children were something without one's life is somehow empty. For many people (e.g. the infertile, gays who wish to adopt), that's accurate - a child is something they need in their lives, and it's something they lack.

"Childfree" has no such negative connotation - one is free of the burden of having the thing, and one has made this choice freely.

Making the distinction may not prevent breeders from asking "so when are you gonna have kids", but it shuts down the even-more-patronizing "Oh, why can't you have kids?" real fast :-)

More importantly, it means that you can meaningfully tell your HR department that no, offering benefits for the childless (but not childfree), such as fertility treatments covered under a medical plan) is not an adequate substitute.

The childfree.net web site is a decent intro to the concept (though it takes itself a little too seriously at times). Suffice it to say you're not alone.

If you're in the mood for a rant, The Misanthropic Bitch has some damn fine ones: Her take on The Weaker Sex is the best rant on "Family-Friendly" offices I've ever read, and is IMHO a must-read for people on either side of this issue.

"If working mothers continue to garner more support and even more rights in the workplace, women who are serious about a career are going to get fucked over. "

Seriously - if you're not shooting blanks, and you sleep with a woman, you're taking the full financial risk of any progeny that may be developed. Them's the legal breaks. The alternative - that the law permit a male be able to force a female to have an abortion against her will, Just Doesn't Work in any ethical scheme, no matter how twisted, I can dream up.

If you don't want kids, and you posess a Y chromosome, get thyself snipped. It's the best birthday present you'll ever give yourself. And if your partner doesn't want kids either, it's the best present you can give her too. For less than $500, it's a hell of a lot cheaper and safer than asking your partner to have a tubal ligation.

Here's some recommended reading for both for those who don't want kids, and for those who do, but can't understand why we don't. (I particularly liked Why books are better than babies.

Another website for your perusal: alt.support.childfree.moderated archive.

Finally, to the Epopt, who said that folks who described having children as "pointless" as "obsessively self-centered": a reminder that obsessive self-centeredness can be as much a trait of breeders as it is of the childfree. (Woo-hoo, I get to re-use a link from yesterday's post!)

(But - in the Epopt's defence - while I resent his implied characterization of the childfree as selfish, he's quite right in one thing: if you have to ask, you'll never understand. That goes for both sides of the "to sprog or not to sprog" debate. While I understand the reasons for spawning on the surface, I'll never grok in fullness the desire to sprog. A few years ago, I broke off a 5-year relationship because we were each dumb enough to get into it before realizing that we just couldn't agree on this subject. We've remained friends - she's got 2 kids now and is ecstatic about it, and I've got none and am equally ecstatic. Had we continued our relationship, it would have been hell. She'd curse me for the child I'd never give her, or I'd curse her for the one she saddled me with. Eech.

As one who probably would be tempted to "throw 'em away" if I ever ended up with one, I took the responsibility for making damn sure I'd never end up with one in the first place. Better for me, better for my companion, and better for a putative kid not to exist at all than to have me as a Dad!

I'm a firm believer in the "if you don't like 'em, don't have 'em" school. Naturally, if you do like kids, go nuts. After all, someone's gotta breed more geeks to make up for those of us who prefer DOOM's "Knee-deep in Dead" to the Mommy Track's "Elbow-deep in baby shit!" :-)

Seriously - if you're not shooting blanks, and you sleep with a woman, you're taking the full financial risk of any progeny that may be developed. Them's the legal breaks. The alternative - that the law permit a male be able to force a female to have an abortion against her will, Just Doesn't Work in any ethical scheme, no matter how twisted, I can dream up.

If you don't want kids, and you posess a Y chromosome, get thyself snipped. It's the best birthday present you'll ever give yourself. And if your partner doesn't want kids either, it's the best present you can give her too. For less than $500, it's a hell of a lot cheaper and safer than asking your partner to have a tubal ligation.

Here's some recommended reading for both for those who don't want kids, and for those who do, but can't understand why we don't. (I particularly liked Why books are better than babies.

Another website for your perusal: alt.support.childfree.moderated archive.

Finally, to the Epopt, who said that folks who described having children as "pointless" as "obsessively self-centered": a reminder that obsessive self-centeredness can be as much a trait of breeders as it is of the childfree. (Woo-hoo, I get to re-use a link from yesterday's post!)

(But - in the Epopt's defence - while I resent his implied characterization of the childfree as selfish, he's quite right in one thing: if you have to ask, you'll never understand. That goes for both sides of the "to sprog or not to sprog" debate. While I understand the reasons for spawning on the surface, I'll never grok in fullness the desire to sprog. A few years ago, I broke off a 5-year relationship because we were each dumb enough to get into it before realizing that we just couldn't agree on this subject. We've remained friends - she's got 2 kids now and is ecstatic about it, and I've got none and am equally ecstatic. Had we continued our relationship, it would have been hell. She'd curse me for the child I'd never give her, or I'd curse her for the one she saddled me with. Eech.

As one who probably would be tempted to "throw 'em away" if I ever ended up with one, I took the responsibility for making damn sure I'd never end up with one in the first place. Better for me, better for my companion, and better for a putative kid not to exist at all than to have me as a Dad!

I'm a firm believer in the "if you don't like 'em, don't have 'em" school. Naturally, if you do like kids, go nuts. After all, someone's gotta breed more geeks to make up for those of us who prefer DOOM's "Knee-deep in Dead" to the Mommy Track's "Elbow-deep in baby shit!" :-)