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Essay by Eric Worrall
Are climate alarmists modern day Shakers, doomed to die out because of their religious rejection of having children?
How climate change is impacting people’s decision to have kids in different ways
ABC Everyday / By Kellie Scott
Australia’s fertility rate is falling.
One of the many reasons people are choosing to have fewer children — or none at all — is concern for climate change.
Experts say fewer babies being born can have a positive impact on the environment, although there are negative implications associated with a rapidly ageing population.
While some people are steadfast in living child free to reduce their carbon footprint, there are those who say having children is a statement of hope.
We spoke to two people whose concerns about the planet’s future influenced their decision about whether or not to have children.
Jonathan: Child free by choice
While Jonathan (who asked we withhold his surname for privacy) has never felt the “strong biological urge” to have children, it was environmental concerns that really cemented his decision to remain child free.
“Environmentally, I am very aware of the devastating trajectory that we are already on due to climate change and global warming and, even in my late 20s and early 30s, had decided that the single most impactful decision I could make in relation to reducing my own carbon footprint was not to have children,” the 39-year-old from Brisbane says.
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Shakers didn’t have kids, but they offered sanctuary to orphans, who were free to leave when they reached majority if they didn’t want to stay. But the modern movement is only a shadow of its former self.
My original draft was going to be a joke about climate alarmists removing their mental illness genes from future generations, but people denying themselves the joy of child rearing for something as pointless as unfounded climate fears just seems too sad to laugh about.
There were an old couple who used to live next door to my grandparents. They didn’t have kids. Very friendly, but I only saw them occasionally. Very lonely, there was never anybody visiting at Christmas time. Then one day they weren’t there.
Maybe they couldn’t have kids and just told everyone they didn’t want kids. But the look in the husband’s eyes, one time I was leaving after paying a quick visit for some cookies, he just looked incredibly sad. Maybe they realised too late they had made a mistake.
Not every climate alarmist stays the distance. Guardian author David Bry featured a few times in WUWT, for his strident opposition to having kids, before finally caving in to demands from his wife. But sometimes nature takes the decision away from you, if you hesitate too long.
I sometimes worry about alarmists who are ideologically opposed to having kids, who cave into their desire for kids. I have horrifying visions of some alarmist who caved into their desire to reproduce, screaming at their defenceless little kids, telling the kids they are “planet wreckers” by virtue of their very existence.
Nevertheless I hope climate alarmists who are denying themselves the fulfilment of having kids come to their senses. The world has enough unhappiness and despair, without people surrendering to unfounded climate fears, and condemning themselves to a life of misery and lost opportunity.
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