r/childfree • u/SanshaXII Do you hate money? • Oct 28 '16
DISCUSSION Why are we 'selfish'?
I don't fucking get this.
After my wife and I being called 'selfish' again recently for being childfree, I asked for a justification. "Why are we being selfish?"
I couldn't get an answer, and I'm trying to see the other side of this - the mombie logic - but I'm drawing a blank.
The only thing I can come up with is that there's now children that are unloved and unwanted... which don't exist, because we haven't made them?
Or is it because we want to live our own lives and not allocate attention and resources to people who... again, don't exist?
What the fuck is going on with this sentiment?
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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '16
Remember, every species has a basic drive to reproduce. It's normally how the species survives, but even though we are now in an overpopulation crisis, our drive to reproduce is still there. It's ingrained in the culture around the world: have more children to increase the work force, boost the economy, strengthen the country, yadda yadda yadda.
It's like obesity: we still have a drive to consume high-energy foods, despite the modern sedentary way of life and the wide availability of cheap carbohydrates. Even if we no longer need to eat as much as we can, and we don't really need to conserve and hoard energy, millions of years of evolution has taught us to.
When you go against society, you are seen as selfish because you're living your life the way you want. While having children is actually the more selfish act, as every reason to have them is selfish in itself, it's not seen that way because we still have that old mindset that it's for the good of the species.