patrick.net

Having kids is easy, taking care of them is hard. It's especially difficult in today's modern world of hazards and net-nannies who oversee a parent's every move. Just keeping kids from destroying their environments (your house, car, school, etc) is difficult, let alone restraining them from killing themselves by accident while also giving them opportunity to grow and explore their world. Add in the activities you are supposed to have them engage in, countless fundraisers for everything from sports teams to their grade school PTA, contributing to college funds, buying clothes and shoes every two months as they destroy or outgrow them, paying for recreation activities, buying larger vehicles and houses to accommodate a growing family, and countless smaller expenses, kids are expensive! It's really difficult to just secure reasonable housing in a good school district without gangs that also has enough space for everyone to not feel cramped and the wife to be happy.
The more kids you have, the harder it all gets.
And should you wish to take the love of your life out for a date, be prepared to drop $60-80 on a babysitter before the costs of said date are counted. And dot think that means you're getting lucky, as by the time you both return home, pay the extortionist, and lock the door, you'll just want to collapse into bed so you have the energy to do it all again the next day.

These days, having children and raising them yourself is a heroic effort. It's much easier to just do your own thing, pay your own way, date around or even get married without tossing a child hand-grenade into the relationship. People have plenty of distractions and entertainments to replace the time sink.

The ironic thing is that if I was to leave the car seat at home while flying somewhere because it's hard enough with a toddler without schlepping a 30lb car seat, and risk putting my toddler in a rental car for a few minutes drive to rent or buy another seat somehwere, betcha ass I'd be pulled over, arrested, face shown on TV as Mr. Bad Dad, and extorted for hundreds or thousands of dollars plus court costs.

I've known parents who let a toddler sleep in the back seat of a car with the windows open on an overcast 60 degree day who had the cops called on them, because they were trying to let their older kid run around the park a bit more.

Meanwhile some welfare Ho is smocking crack and turning tricks 10 feet from her toddler and she goes on to make 5 more kids.

I hear ya on the flying with a car seat issue. It's rough as hell taking it all on the plane, but nice once you get in the seat and can strap your toddler down in their seat for the trip. They stand a good chance of sleeping on the way which is just better for absolutely everyone. In general tho, flying with a toddler of baby is an awful experience, new form of torture.

Quigley says

Add in the activities you are supposed to have them engage in, countless fundraisers for everything from sports teams to their grade school PTA,

This seems like a uniquely American thing, and could easily be curtailed. Or would that make you or the children into outcasts?

Dan8267 says

Current rates of resource consumption considerably exceed nature’s capacity to reproduce itself sustainably. Indeed, in 1997 humans burned fossil fuel energy equivalent to greater than 400 times the annual net primary productivity

Sounds like Club of Rome 1974.

Dan8267 says

Most resource consumption is taking place in rich countries, whose populations and economies had been growing more or less continuously for hundreds of years

as they should.

Dan8267 says

as fertility rates decrease to below population replacement throughout most of the developed world. Fertility is dropping rapidly in developing countries too

Especially among those on the far left as they have too many projects (fund raisers, marathons, protests, STD's, ribbons, screen plays, gym memberships, yoga, therapy) to bother with propagating.

Yeah, the gubmnt here is just too obnoxious. Yet in countries like these, the population is growing leaps and bounds. One thing I find travelling in 3rd world countries is how happy the poor are-ignorance truly is bliss.

@TL, Quigley and anyone flying with a carseat. A GoGo Kidz Travelmate is the best investment you can make. People in the airport will (I kid you not) stop and stare in amazement. No more schlepping. You wheel your kid through the airport like a piece of carry on luggage.

Dan8267 says

World depopulation over next 100 years

And not a moment too soon. Probably it will be too late.

thunderlips11 says

Meanwhile some welfare Ho is smocking crack and turning tricks 10 feet from her toddler and she goes on to make 5 more kids.

Leave CIC's wife out of this.

bgamall4 says

Gorbachev and Ted Turner want the population culled by 90 percent.

Yes, because ending world starvation and poverty by women choosing to have fewer children is exactly the same thing a genocide. Just ask the Holocaust survivors.

World depopulation

TOO MANY humans are a plague upon the Earth. Not humans, generally.

Just like too many deer on a small island is a plague upon the island.

Dan8267 says

Most resource consumption is taking place in rich countries, whose populations and economies had been growing more or less continuously for hundreds of years.

Well, not exactly true.

Europe post-WWII native population has been declining and US population roughly stable.

It's only because of high levels of immigration from nations where the replacement rate is anywhere from 3 to 6 that is the problem.

The Western Middle Class the worst of both worlds.

We create a high value economy, stabilize our births, and then get dumped on by people who essentially want the Western Taxpayer to raise their kids for them gratis.

They are aided and abetted by globalists and liberals who want nothing more than to destroy the voting power of the Middle Class by saturating us with dependencies who will then, of course, vote their favorite bureaucrat into office.

This explains Obama's desparate search, now that Mexico has stopped producing babies, to find yet another source of bodies.

All things being equal, a nation with adequate housing and land will vote Republican, will want stable borders and finance. All of that doesn't sit well with the voracious globalists who want to suck it all up for themselves.

thunderlips11 says

Meanwhile some welfare Ho is smocking crack and turning tricks 10 feet from her toddler and she goes on to make 5 more kids.

And what do you have against Free Enterprise???

What is it about this thread that suddenly switched the default text to boldface? I'm not even quoting anything, and I am getting boldface still.

John Bailo says

We create a high value economy, stabilize our births, and then get dumped on by people who essentially want the Western Taxpayer to raise their kids for them gratis.

The Immigration Act of 1965 was a good start down this road ere those 50 years ago.

https://sukwan.substack.com/p/monday-night-memes

Patrick says

The funny thing is all the articles hyping the cost COVID uptick, which was just marriages delayed for a few years due to Lockdowns.

The real takeaway is that the 2021 numbers are lower than pre-pandemic 2018-2021 and the numbers are still at lows not seen in US history going back to the late 19th Century. In the worst year of the Great Depression it was 7.9

There was also a huge amount of Gay marriages in that uptick at the end of the chart.

This seems like an opportunity for those who have good values, a good community which will help instill those values into their children, and who can nurture large families.

Maybe it will be self-correcting like richwicks says.

yawaraf says

This seems like an opportunity for those who have good values, a good community which will help instill those values into their children, and who can nurture large families.

Maybe it will be self-correcting like richwicks says.

I might be off my rocker, but I think the actual event of marriage is preventing people from getting married. The ceremony, the reception, the honeymoon and all the other shit people do now. I like a good party, but we've party(ized) something that shouldn't be. Created a massive industry. Wanna get married? Mom and dad have $30k+ to blow? Drop $1k+ on a one time wear dress. Pay $5-10k on below average banquet food?

Besides the future financial issues in a potential divorce aside, who the hell would want to have a wedding right now?? It's a fucking fortune. So people just have kids out of wedlock. So I don't think marriage is the best metric for predicting future child births.

WookieMan says

I might be off my rocker, but I think the actual event of marriage is preventing people from getting married. The ceremony, the reception, the honeymoon and all the other shit people do now. I like a good party, but we've party(ized) something that shouldn't be. Created a massive industry. Wanna get married? Mom and dad have $30k+ to blow? Drop $1k+ on a one time wear dress. Pay $5-10k on below average banquet food?

You can get married without some stupid expensive ceremony.

zzyzzx says

You can get married without some stupid expensive ceremony.

Basically not true. It's the standard. I agree with you, but that's not what people think. Traditions are gone with who pays for it as well. Guys family might have to pay for it and the divorce. So why get married? Hence why marriage rates are dropping. It is a factor for sure. Father's don't want to dump money into a wedding either. I'm soooooo happy I didn't have daughters. But I think that tradition is going away as well where daddy pays for the wedding.

No one wants to pay for it as it's approaching the cost of a Tesla that is gonna screw you in the future ;)

I doubt that the Amish have expensive weddings. Regardless of the cost, if they have lots of children to whom they pass on their values, and their neighbors don't, maybe the Amish will take over.

yawaraf says

I doubt that the Amish have expensive weddings. Regardless of the cost, if they have lots of children to whom they pass on their values, and their neighbors don't, maybe the Amish will take over.

They probably should. I won't disagree with that. The norm unfortunately is spending a shit load of money on weddings. I don't agree with it, but it's the norm. My wedding was nothing for the amount of people. I think 300 people. We spent under $10k. Live band too. Maybe my ego, but still get best wedding people have been to comments to this day. Frankly was still more than I wanted to spend.

My comment wasn't saying people "should" spend large sums. I think it literally prevents younger couples from getting married. The industry screws people over big time. So young men don't pull the trigger on marriage. Right or wrong, I do think it's a factor. It's a lot of money and parents and in laws don't have the cash to foot the bill. Hell most don't even have savings. I think that's the biggest factor in marriages declining. That and the hookup culture.

There it is! The true endgame of the Global Warming canard.

Study: Humans Contributing to Global Warming by Breathing

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/12/19/humans-contributing-to-global-warming-by-breathing-study/

The post is about world population but the comments are about the USA population decrease which is only about 4% of the world pop.

lostand confused says

Yeah, the gubmnt here is just too obnoxious. Yet in countries like these, the population is growing leaps and bounds. One thing I find travelling in 3rd world countries is how happy the poor are-ignorance truly is bliss.

What are they supposedly ignorant of?

lostand confused says

One thing I find travelling in 3rd world countries is how happy the poor are-ignorance truly is bliss.

One thing I find travelling in 3rd world countries is how happy the people are compared to americans. Especially the "highly educated" career climbing multiple divorced 50+ hour a week working but still debt ridden morons.

GNL says

What are they supposedly ignorant of?

Feminist/woke bullshit?

zzyzzx says

You can get married without some stupid expensive ceremony.

I didn't even buy my fiance an engagement ring. She was shamed by her peeps into buying it herself. Later, we got a pittance from the class action lawsuit against DeBeers that I had to hound her for to submit claims information.

Women - can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

stereotomy says

I didn't even buy my fiance an engagement ring. She was shamed by her peeps into buying it herself. Later, we got a pittance from the class action lawsuit against DeBeers that I had to hound her for to submit claims information.

Women - can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

Eh, jewelry is tough. I actually think rings are a thing that is worth doing. One it lets others know you're taken so to speak. Two it's a sign you committed by spending a little (or a lot) of money on them. They can look good. I'm a watch guy so I have bling on my wrist a lot of the time. Necessary, absolutely not, especially if you cannot afford it. It's nice if you can though.

I'd never give anyone shit though for not buying a ring. Do what you want. Do what you can afford. If the chick isn't happy is that the one you want to be with? Go to a thrift store and get something unique. In the end it's never about the money if you want to be happy.

A diamond is a scam all the way from purposely shut down mines to the marketing to women's emotion and need for attention. Diamonds are so plentiful, they're worthless.

GNL says

A diamond is a scam all the way from purposely shut down mines to the marketing to women's emotion and need for attention. Diamonds are so plentiful, they're worthless.

Don't disagree at all. They look cool though. Just got to not be an idiot and overpay.

There's a great documentary about DeBeers and the entire scam out there somewhere. I watched it about 20-25 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if it couldn't be found anymore.

GNL says

There's a great documentary about DeBeers and the entire scam out there somewhere. I watched it about 20-25 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if it couldn't be found anymore.

Precious metals and stones are all a scam. Don't need to watch anything for that. Some have value for electronics, but it's way less than people that invest in it should pay for it. If you want it for fun go for it and just know what you're paying for. Gold, silver, diamonds, platinum, etc. Besides utility they're basically worthless minerals.

If someone want's to buy a Ferrari, go for it. It's a stupid expense but whatever. That's the way I look at it. Not needed, but if it makes you feel good have at it. Just make sure you can afford it. Same with diamond rings.