Well that’s…bizarre. I don’t expect anyone to procreate, I’m thrilled for everyone to do whatever makes them happy.
By the way, you were the one who said:
Bolding mine, to emphasize that you were the one who stated that these various “lifestyles” are “choices.” It’s nice that you have a choice whether or not to have children, but FYI, gay people don’t have a choice whether or not to be gay.
Mommies line up to shoot the childfree. I saw it on the internet.
Well, it seems pretty obvious to me that the “urge” to procreate really isn’t that universal. It’s pretty well accepted now that the true urge is actually sexual, and up until you know, 40 years ago, the urge to have sex pretty much led to procreating whether you wanted to or not. As soon as women got their hands on decent birth control, lo and behold the birth rate dropped and a lot of people choose not to have kids at all. So, you’re not all that unusual that you’ve decided you’re not interested enough in kids to have to raise one for 20 years…it’s simply a decision you can make for yourself now, god bless science that it’s possible.
Not only do we get things done up here, but our economy has been kicking the Americans’ ass since the US housing/banking crisis sent the world into a recession.
So far as I’m aware, no one has started a thread condemning anyone for having kids. They have, however, started threads on being dicks and using parenthood as an excuse for the dickish behavior.
Just a note to Whisperer, curlie and Dread:
When you’re admitted to the dementia ward after your families have had enough of listening to your Alzheimic ramblings, wiping the remnants of your vitamized lunch off your chins, and scraping the shit out of your arse creases to prevent infection, you’d better be bloody grateful that SOMEONE had a kid to provide you that care.
And last I heard you got laid off. Interesting, given the kick ass economy…
[QUOTE=Dread Pirate Jimbo]
So far as I’m aware, no one has started a thread condemning anyone for having kids. They have, however, started threads on being dicks and using parenthood as an excuse for the dickish behavior.
[/QUOTE]
Your perception is…skewed. To say the least.
[QUOTE=curlcoat]
Why would it be tax deductible? Daycare is for those kids you chose to have - I chose to have dogs, and when we have had to pay for a sitter when we were both out of town, it never occurred to us that it should be deductible. But again, for some reason you think you should get a break on care for your kid(s) because its about children?
[/QUOTE]
Children are dependent human beings; the tax code should be designed to assist human beings in being able to afford to live decent lives. A pretty good argument can be made that tax breaks for child care actually increase economic activity, since it keeps productive labor in the workforce.
Dogs are property. They aren’t one millionth as important as humans. You should get tax breaks for dogs no more than you should be able to get tax breaks for buying a toaster.
Baby changing stations? Seriously, that’s a complaint? What’re you going to bitch about next? Water fountains?
Well, life is dealing with other people. You go out in public, and you’re an unpleasant, stupid twit, and people have to deal with you. That’s life.
You know what? I’m prepared to give you this point because the more I think about it, the more I am quite sure that the urge to procreate is not a choice any more than sexual preference, which means I am incorrect in my characterisation of this situation.
The fact that our modern world allows people to live the life they want is fundamentally what has created this debate in the first place and, as you rightly pointed out upthread, it has been less than a half century for society to get its head around the concept that people who don’t want kids don’t have to have them and shouldn’t be treated like lepers for that state of affairs.
I can recall from very early in my relationship with my wife her telling me that that she knew from a very young age that she would never have kids. She didn’t reach 30 and suddenly choose to stay childfree; this was going to be it from Day 1.
So allow me to rephrase then: Being made the butt of jokes, such as that in the OP, being condescended to by self-righteous people who think we are living a life that is “weird,” being asked if you have children in job interviews, saying no, then immediately being asked “Why?” as if it’s any of their business what I do or do not do with my bodily fluids, all this eventually gets on the nerves of the childfree person and eventually they respond, sometimes with vitriol.
For my part, I will try to be better at recognizing and understanding that there are plenty of people who are born knowing that they will—they must—have kids and that that must be respected. But I will also expect the same in kind.
Does this help?
Nah, curlcoat doesn’t start her own threads as a rule, but she’s got her radar happening to jump into any other thread where kids are mentioned. No kid gets away with having a right to exist in her world.
Yeah? Cite?
Despite being childless and without ever wanting children, I experience very little of this, pretty much never in person.
I’ll be grateful that it isn’t someone even remotely related to you. Please, please promise me that neither you nor any of your spawn will move to my country. I don’t want my dementia-riddled body touched by you or your progeny.
And I got paid a year’s worth of severance for that lay off. So suck it, chumps who are still working for a living.
I’m sorry, are you under the misguided notion that this thread was started to condemn all parents? Because that’s moronic.
Blaming me for curlcoat is stupid. And my cite is THIS FUCKING THREAD. Or perhaps you’re confused about where you are at the moment. Are you sure you’re not the one with Alzheimers?
Well, then your experience is very different from mine and I congratulate you on that. 
Now I’m even more confused - parents have been telling me for years that they yearn with the desire to have kids, that their uteruses spasm when they see cute babies, etc. You’re saying that the overwhelming urge to have a baby that people say they have is just being horny? Apparently, the biological imperative is "putting biological language to what is psychological. Fascinating! Thank you for the information - I was not aware of this.
If the mythical overwhelming urge to have babies is not a biological imperative at all, then I will indeed stop comparing childfree people to gay people.
Didn’t blame you for curlcoat…that’s why I mentioned curlcoat and curlcoat alone! She’s a whole n’other level of crazy beyond even you and Whisperer! You’ve got some serious work to do before you can claim par with her. 
And your cite being this thread? Man, how many times has it been pointed out to you that the video was an attempt to be funny? Now I get it that YOU don’t find it funny on any level, that’s OK. I never liked Seinfeld, and people used to get up my nose about that for years. Whatevs.
Anyway, there’s been a recall on crosses. Apparently the manufacturer has found a flaw in the design that causes the crucifixee to lose humors too rapidly. Please return for a full refund!
Yeah, I don’t buy that. I know a lot of people who really, really want children. They are devastated when they have sex often yet don’t get children. If children wasn’t the imperative, then the sex should be enough to satisfy the urge. But it clearly isn’t.
Also, I think birth control inherently reduces said desire, since it makes your body think you are pregnant. It seems to change what women look for in a mate, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t change that, too.
The sex imperative may have led people without the procreation imperative to have children in the past, and now only those with the procreation imperative are left. But I’ve seen it happen way too often where someone can have all the sex they want but specifically wants children.
Her experience is different not because she’s not surrounded by mean mommies, but because she’s not a goddamned moron. You whine about being the butt of jokes, like the OP, completely unclear on who the butt of the jokes in the OP is: THE MOM. She is making fun of herself. But you’re apparently such a special little snowflake that you can’t bear to be around someone who’s making fun of anyone, because if they are, obviously they’re making fun of you.
Certainly I’ll admit the possibility that you’ve spent your life being mocked; you’ve given us strong evidence to support your eminent mockability. But you’re not being mocked because you don’t have kids, trust me.
Firsit of all, it wasn’t meant as a condemnation of all things Canadian. It was a lighthearted was of saying that it seems like a lot of moms would be out of the workplace for a long time.
Second, no. There is rather large productivity gap between the average US and Canadian worker that isn’t in your favor. There has been for quite a while.
If you’d like to earnestly debate the topic, I’m happy to join you in a different thread.
Sorry, a beeping oven prevented me from catching these typos within the edit window:
First of all, it wasn’t meant as a condemnation of all things Canadian. It was a lighthearted way of saying that it seems like a lot of moms would be out of the workplace for a long time.
Again, I never said the decision not to have children is “weird.” What I said was that the attitude that children as a class are a thorn inn the side of society and that we’d be better off without the civic responsibility to help support them (by paying taxes to schools and such) is weird. And not very nice.
Fine by me…I wouldn’t dream of doing anything different.