# Should responsible couples have a baby in today's world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 10, 2014, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340 "2014-03-10T08:05:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/81 "2014-03-13T14:31:01Z")
You posted: > [@Frank\_Merton](#): > > No such child who grows up with such a parent is going to be happy, and it’s the parents’ fault. I repeat, do you really believe that a child whose mother berates him in public _cannot_ be happy? And when do you think that inability ends? ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/82 "2014-03-14T17:53:37Z")
> [@](#): > > It is quite disappointing to see reactions to this concern only range from amused denial to blind optimism. Well, it is quite disappointing that you have ignored **Blake** ’s point by point refutation of your original post. Most of **Blake** ’s points are very good, but some are weaker than others, especially in regards to climate change and resource depletion. We _are_ experiencing a certain amount of climate change, and there \*is \*depletion of fossil fuels in particular. If you concentrate your argument around those points you will avoid most of the errors which have been pointed out to you. If you only worry about the things on your list that are actually true, rather than a long list of inaccuracies, then you might see that there is at least some hope for the future of humanity. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/83 "2014-03-14T19:41:18Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > Well, it is quite disappointing that you have ignored **Blake** ’s point by point refutation of your original post. > > Most of **Blake** ’s points are very good, but some are weaker than others, especially in regards to climate change and resource depletion. We _are_ experiencing a certain amount of climate change, and there \*is \*depletion of fossil fuels in particular. If you concentrate your argument around those points you will avoid most of the errors which have been pointed out to you. > > If you only worry about the things on your list that are actually true, rather than a long list of inaccuracies, then you might see that there is at least some hope for the future of humanity. Hope for the future of humanity… Let us remember once again this thread is not about mankind’s extinction, or its survival. It is about the individual’s fulfillment here and now, and from now on. Overcrowding and resource depletion is causing increasing national and religious extremism, and all this is fueling authoritarianism (as pollution and climate change add increasing stress to the equation). But what has been truly ignored here, is my statement related to the fact that there is no big project people can put their faith in anymore. As I’ve said before: “The recourse to religion is not as comforting as it used to. Secular social projects have lost their appeal too. Today’s people (at all levels) can only focus on the short term and it seems they can’t even manage that satisfactorily.” It is one thing to sail and hope you’ll reach the destination, and another to drift and hope you’ll live another day. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/84 "2014-03-14T20:07:27Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > But what has been truly ignored here, is my statement related to the fact that there is no big project people can put their faith in anymore. If it’s ignored, it’s because it’s false. Assuming the secular meaning of ‘faith’, there is plenty – scientific research and exploration, experiencing love and commitment, helping those in need, etc., all of these can be big projects for people to put their faith in. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/85 "2014-03-15T02:52:02Z")
Well, according to quite a few people, we should all be fruitfully multiplying because things are not that bad: [http://www.thefamilyleader.com/debunking-the-myth-of-overpopulation/](http://www.thefamilyleader.com/debunking-the-myth-of-overpopulation/) ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/86 "2014-03-18T15:29:07Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > If it’s ignored, it’s because it’s false. Assuming the secular meaning of ‘faith’, there is plenty – scientific research and exploration, experiencing love and commitment, helping those in need, etc., all of these can be big projects for people to put their faith in. None of these may matter a couple of decades from now: [Nasa-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for ‘irreversible collapse’?](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/mar/14/nasa-civilisation-irreversible-collapse-study-scientists) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/87 "2014-03-18T16:27:18Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > None of these may matter a couple of decades from now: [Nasa-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for ‘irreversible collapse’?](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/mar/14/nasa-civilisation-irreversible-collapse-study-scientists) Do you bother to read your own cites? > [@](#): > > However, the scientists point out that the worst-case scenarios are by no means inevitable, and suggest that appropriate policy and structural changes could avoid collapse, if not pave the way toward a more stable civilisation. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/88 "2014-03-18T17:38:15Z")
when people reproduce i don’t think that consideration of the world’s future or that child’s future is a consideration providing the people have some knowledge of environmental, sociological and economics consequences and can give it some thought. people reproduce because they have an urge to do so. this urge has to be fought if you have future concerns. to resist this urge might be the hardest thing you will be faced with in life; it might take more will power and sacrifice that you have ever done in your life. for people who really love kids then they could adopt and foster to provide quality to some already existing beings; this will be a great aid to you and the kids. there are some religious persons who think that life on earth, no matter how harsh or horrible is of no consequence. while a person’s belief is their own, i think many use religion as a means to avoid responsibility and facing the reality the world can bring. even if the worst climate, environment, resource, economic and political possibilities don’t happen it still not going to be easy for quite some time into the future. climate change may raise the cost of food or the cost of living in some areas to a massively greater cost. the future will not be as good as the world we have lived it. it will cost more and be less comfortable. about 1/2 to 3/4s of a century ago there were trends, indicators and analysis that indicated a bad future if people didn’t change. it was ignored for many reasons; people don’t like limits. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/89 "2014-03-18T19:45:34Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Do you bother to read your own cites? No, I don’t. But if you promise appropriate policy and structural changes are applied in due course, I swear I’ll only walk on the pavement of the new civilization, faith in one hand, hope in the other. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/90 "2014-03-18T21:52:01Z")
Scuti, that’s perilously close to an admission of trolling. At a minimum it’s debating in bad faith. If you wish to participate in Great Debates please make sure you do so honestly from this time forward. Otherwise you may earn warnings. Enough of those and bad things happen. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/91 "2014-03-19T04:48:21Z")
If the bees want this world, they can take it from our cold, dead cities. ---
**Author:** ![Frank\_Merton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Frank\_Merton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank_Merton)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340/92 "2014-03-19T06:25:37Z")
Well we are still being warned of ensuing doom over a half century later and things continue to get better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responsible-couples-have-a-baby-in-todays-world/683340.md?page=4)