Point A. There's only one panelist that I think had an active dislike of children. I don't (http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/childfree/) and I'm glad you backed off from characterizing everyone who chooses not to have children as jealous, phobic racists.
In point B you've just expressed a lot of what I felt as one of the panelists. I think I was the only one of the panelists who came into the room with the point of view that people who choose to have children make a social sacrifice to provide the next generation. By not having kids, I've opted out and am not paying the same societal price. In other words, the people who have kids are raising my gerontologist. If nothing else, it is absolutely in my best interest to make sure that their children are raised happy and healthy.
Point C - Actually... I think this is misrepresented or at least misinterpreted. The point that one of the other panelists raised was that people in countries like Germany and Australia were being encouraged to HAVE children in order to prevent minorities from moving into their countries and taking over. (This is what led us into taxation issues. Aside from mentioning other countries, I found the general tone of the discussion tended to be American-centric, so I brought up Iceland because that's the only other country in which I've lived for an extended period.)
I should also fess up that I was the one who shut down the Muslim comment as off-topic because, oh my god, that was a can of worms that I did not want to see opened. And no, it wasn't really off-topic, but it was a HUGE, HUGE discussion that would have had to start with educating the audience member about Muslims and THAT was not something I felt qualified to tackle.
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Date: 2008-06-10 05:35 am (UTC)In point B you've just expressed a lot of what I felt as one of the panelists. I think I was the only one of the panelists who came into the room with the point of view that people who choose to have children make a social sacrifice to provide the next generation. By not having kids, I've opted out and am not paying the same societal price. In other words, the people who have kids are raising my gerontologist. If nothing else, it is absolutely in my best interest to make sure that their children are raised happy and healthy.
Point C - Actually... I think this is misrepresented or at least misinterpreted. The point that one of the other panelists raised was that people in countries like Germany and Australia were being encouraged to HAVE children in order to prevent minorities from moving into their countries and taking over. (This is what led us into taxation issues. Aside from mentioning other countries, I found the general tone of the discussion tended to be American-centric, so I brought up Iceland because that's the only other country in which I've lived for an extended period.)
I should also fess up that I was the one who shut down the Muslim comment as off-topic because, oh my god, that was a can of worms that I did not want to see opened. And no, it wasn't really off-topic, but it was a HUGE, HUGE discussion that would have had to start with educating the audience member about Muslims and THAT was not something I felt qualified to tackle.