We’re looking to set up and start a movement to publicize and encourage voluntary sterilization. Let’s face it, most people shouldn’t breed. The world is overpopulated and adding more people to it has increasingly become an act of selfishness whereby a couple puts their desire for children above what the world, the economy, and often their own finances.

    Some people just shouldn’t be allowed to breed. We joke that we are those people. The cruel joke of human nature is that those who would make the worst parents are typically those who are the least likely to take the steps to prevent becoming parents. This is why the world is full of selfish jerks. Awful parents raise awful kids who in turn become awful parents. Many don’t fully consider the responsibility and factors that allow for a child to grow into an adult who changes society for the better.

    While neither of us consider ourselves to be jerks, we both admit to selfishly enjoying  life to the point where we don’t feel we could devote the 100% attention that a child needs to be raised successfully. When weighing the advantages and disadvantages of having children, along with the socio-economic-ecologic aspects, we decided that for us, being child free is the best option and would like to encourage others to put the thought into that we have an make sterilization more easily attainable by those who need it.

    The past semester, the office Berserker worked at for 11 years went under. Since the job market for writers is drying up, he decided to return to school for a more stable degree. In the meantime, times are tight, so we live carefully to make the best of an unfortunate situation and continue to plan for the future. Reaching the conclusion that being child free was for us and that having an unwanted child would be unfair for the child, we decided we could make the best of this situation and attempt to raise awareness for the Child Free movement and use Berserker’s vasectomy as a jumping off point to bring about some societal change.

    We intend to raise enough funds for Berserker to get one and will gladly post a video of the procedure to try to take some of the stigma out of it. From there we hope to set up a charity to pay for the vasectomies to those who also choose to be child free of their own volition. Ultimately we want to encourage responsibility. We’ve already had interest in others looking to help manage this if it is something we can get off the ground.

In Depth Philosophy of the Child Free Movement

  I’ve always been told, “You’re so good with kids, you’d make such a good father!” It’s true, kids love me! I think that somehow they know that I’m like then in that I’m still a child a heart. I act silly, I climb things, I play and I enjoy it. I decided that a person can grow up in terms of responsibility without ever growing old. Too many people just silently resign to a demure life of how they are “supposed” to act without ever questioning why.

    I’ve just always had this feverish lust for life and trying new things, and honestly I wouldn’t trade the opportunity and ability to experience life in exchange for a child. I suppose some would call it greed, but that’s narrow minded view. It would be greedy if I indeed had a child and put my needs before his own. Planning to never have one is simply strategic prioritization.

    Apart from that, I’m a man who is defined by the depth of his love. When I say I love, it is the most ravenous, passionate, furious love one could have. I love having a woman that I can devote 100% of my attention to. For me anything less is unacceptable. That woman is Pixie.

    There is a difference between childless and child free. Childless is the unfortunate situation where a couple, desiring a child finds themselves unable to conceive, afford fertility treatment, or adopt. Child free is the conscious decision to not have children after weighing the pros and cons of introducing children into the world.

    Sadly we live in a largely uneducated society where the MTV culture 16 and Pregnant fuels the idea that having children is cool, it makes you famous, puts you on TV. We live in a society where conservative government pushes abstinence only education instead of teaching teenagers the values of contraception and safe sex. We live in a society where mothers can collect more welfare checks for each child they have effectively becoming welfare factories. We live in a society where religions tell us to be fruitful and multiply with out cautioning of multiplying beyond our means. We live in a world that is increasingly overpopulated and getting worse as most people think that overpopulation is someone else’s problem.

    Lets face it, blindly having children without considering the ramifications is the accepted and lauded norm. Granted, there are plenty of people who do sit down and have logical discussions and decide that children are right for them, but these are the educated minority. (And bravo to those who fall into this category; children raised by parents who are educated, logical, prepared, and loving are the children who have the potential to change society to the better.)

It’s Just What People Do

When I was a child, I remember being told by my grandmother, “Some day you’ll be a daddy just like your daddy. You’ll go to school and get a job. Then you’ll meet a nice girl and get married, and once you’re married, you can have kids of your own.”

    “Why?” I asked.

    “Because it’s just what people do.” She smiled, the discussion was over. She was the prototypical grandmother that many of us had, a sweet little woman who did what was expected of her. She never drove. She was a homemaker who left all decisions to her loving husband. She was defined by the roll of mother and homemaker. In saying that she was a common woman of her day, I certainly don’t mean to detract from her character, because being a homemaker is just as noble as any job in society. Ultimately she was a completely beautiful woman, but like most women (and men) of the day simply followed these paths that had been traveled by the generations before simply because they were familiar.

    True, this modern generation is slightly different, the gender gap is closing and society has evolved by inches in a positive direction. Yet, while we consider ourselves a more forward minded and liberal society, we haven’t changed our view on social relationships. Stigma still exists for those who choose to remain single or those who choose not to have kids. Example: every newly wed couple has been asked this within the first year of marriage, “So when are you going to have kids?” instead of “Are you going to have kids?” This isn’t just a question asked by nosey Aunt Gertrude, but often just a question of small talk to make conversation. The expectation is that all couples have children.

    There are different ways to answer the question: “We’re in no rush,” works for those who are just looking to skirt the issue. “We’re not sure if we’re going to have children,” is an easy way to leave it ambiguous. My personal favorite is “It’s just not an option for us,” because it slightly shames the questioner for being intrusively assuming and asking something slightly improper.

    So why not just state, “We’ve decided we don’t want children?” To many, there is something oddly off-putting and unnatural about couple who don’t follow this norm. There is a certain look of disappointment, abhorrence, and distain that one receives from new mothers and fathers when explaining a desire to not have children. In their eyes, a person can shift from close friend to dangerous weirdo in a blink. There is a world of difference between complete nonjudgmental acceptance of other people’s decisions and superficial acceptance masking deep-rooted rejection. Believe me, every child free couple can tell the difference.

    A close friend who had drifted over the years once lamented that his wife didn’t want to hang out with their old friends, telling him “I no longer have anything in common with people who aren’t parents. They’re different.” But the sad thing is she’s right to a degree... There are couples who have children and don’t really change who they are in that they simply add a new dynamic to their lives. There are other couples who subscribe 100% to becoming a parent and forsake their old lives to become nothing more than a mommy or daddy. It is certainly their right to do so. There is no way you can judge a person for doing what they feel they need to do to become an awesome parent; it’s nobel, really.

    Unfortunately, there are many couples who don’t fully consider the reality of the sacrifice ahead of time, only to discover it as they make them. It’s an awkward discussion when a friend admits that he or she has second thoughts about being a parent. Moreover it’s an eyeopening discussion. Ultimately the choice to be child free is arriving at a personal conclusion of why the cons outweigh pros for childbearing.

Ultimately, every couple will place different importance on different factors, but these are few issues that most child free couples will consider:

1. 1.Are we financially prepared and able to provide a child the best possible life it could have and assuredly sustain that minimum level of wealth?
   

    Granted, the most important factor in raising a child to a productive member of society is parental involvement and love. However there is also a direct correlation between income and quality of education and live. An established parent will be able to work fewer hours and spend more time with their children. An established parents will have an easier time affording college. While there are always exceptions to the rule, statistically the more financially stable a child’s upbringing is, the more likely it is to be a success. The question is at what level is it acceptable to sacrifice a child’s well-being in order to satisfy a person’s desire to be a parent. We’re of the camp that having a child in anything less than an ideal situation is morally negligent and reprehensible.

2. 2.Are we willing to sacrifice a significant greater personal happiness in exchange for offspring?
   

    This is where the argument gets personal for most people. Society has fostered this fake belief that raising a family is the ultimate in happiness. However, studies show that couples without children consistently report a higher satisfaction of life, less incidence of depression, and stronger marriages. The reasons behind this are actually pretty simple and related to each other.

•More leisure time.

•More time to spend with significant other.

•More career opportunities.

•More education opportunities.

•More life opportunities.

•More social opportunities.

•More money to put into affording life opportunities.

•More time for sleep and exercise.

•Less stress

•A higher quality of resultant health.

•Sex drive stays higher and sex lives are typically more fulfilling.

Societal Influence

3.Are we willing to raise a child in a world we don’t agree with?

Let’s face it, if we wanted what was best for our child, we wouldn’t be living in America. Granted, we aren’t a 3rd world nation, but we are a mediocre nation that is sliding backwards in it’s national standing due to it’s rejection of science, warlike behavior, and lauding of shallow pop culture. America is by and large populated by anti-intellectuals who choose to believe things simply because they were told, never researching issues for themselves and disdaining anything speaking contrary to what they know, supporting facts or not. Honestly the best place to live or raise kids are in the Scandinavian countries which consistently top the positive charts. Allow me to list a few things to consider.

1. •Quality of Health Care #37
   

2. •Scientific Literacy #33
   

3. •Effectiveness of Education #35
   

4. •Democracy #17
   

5. •Lack of Corruption #22
   

6. •Smallest Prison Population #20
   

Overpopulation

    4. Are we willing to blindly ignore the problem of overpopulation?

   

The #1 thing a person can do to help protect the ecology is to not have a child. You can’t honestly consider yourself a conservationist with the knowledge that your decision to have a child will have more lasting effect than a childless person who drives a Hummer and participates in other ecologically negative  lifestyle choices.  It takes a certain level of nihilism to say, “Well, I know we’re all part of the problem, but if someone else is going to make it worse, then I too have that right to make it worse as well.” It’s one thing to recognize a problem, but another thing to make the choice to do a small part of fixing that problem.  The fact of the matter is the average couple has more than 2 children, which increases the overall population. At 2 children you’re not helping stop the problem, just ignoring it. At one child per couple you’ve at least made a change in the positive. This also works hand in hand with the economy as aren’t at a lack of people to spread the wealth amongst.

Related blogs:

    Sterilization as a Tool to Improve Life

     Overpopulation the Benefits of Negative Net

    Casey Anthony and the Judicial System

        (related as she is a prime example how      

            if sterilization and abortion were more

            accepted, she would never have had a      

            daughter to neglect.)