Antinatalism is a belief that advocates not giving birth to biological children.
Antinatalism: Paul was 8 years old. He avoided school, primarily because he was bullied for his flat nose and more significant than average skull size. His peers would call him Alien, “the guy with a flat nose”. As with any cliché story with a kid being bullied in school, Paul didn’t have any friends. He often used to think to himself about how he wouldn’t have had to put up with this if he wasn’t born.
Paul is not alone to think like this. There are many kids who wish they weren’t born because, for them, life is too cruel.
Life is too cruel for a kid born to a drug addict ragpicker father and a mother who works at some scrapyard where she is sexually abused in front of her child. The child gets severe mental trauma in his early days of life that makes a lifelong impact on him. The child grows up and becomes a drug addict like his father. He starts molesting other women because he thinks it is normal to molest a woman.
A few years ago, there was a meme that got viral. It was about a 13-year-old inhalant addict kid, Kamlesh from Madhya Pradesh, India. When he was asked whether he is afraid of dying or not. He said very calmly: “If I will have to die, I will die”.
Kids born in war-affected countries, also have to live miserable lives.
In a nutshell, the living conditions are extremely miserable for many. It can be due to bullying at school, poverty, or even wars.
This is how the antinatalism theories gain popularity.
It goes without saying that the antinatalism notion is a highly delicate and controversial one. The antinatalism belief is an idea that negatively views procreation. In simple words, the notion stands against individuals from having children. The primary reason for the concept is the moral dilemma, whether it is ethically right or wrong.
The idea dates back to ancient Greece and has been given an immense boost, courtesy of the power of social media. Dozens of antinatalism groups are present on platforms such as Reddit, Quora, and Facebook.
One of the core beliefs of the antinatalist groups is as follows: “Our request of people to stop having biological children is not because we think children are terrible. It is because we think children are wonderful, innocent, and deserving far more than what this world can offer them in its current condition.”
The notion, Natalists have a lot of arguments against antinatalists. For starters, natalists say they wish to have kids so that there is someone to look after them when they are old (but what if the kids just dump you in an old age home?). Another interesting argument is, “An antinatalist is a hypocrite if he doesn’t lead by example and kill himself”. Essentially this means those antinatalists that are ethical are the ones that are dead.
Yet another argument is about how a natalist explained with so much rage that humans are part of the natural evolution that took place. Hence, humans have an underlying reason to reside on the planet, contrary to what antinatalists say. Natalists debate that the fear exhibited by their rivals is exaggerated. The group claims that whatever problems have arisen so far, solutions have been made for it. This isn’t entirely true; climate change is a good example.
For the notion, firstly the arguments put forward by the antinatalists are intense. They talk about how not having children is better for the environment. Climate change is no joke, and one of the leading causes is overpopulation, which is often overlooked. The Malthusian theory talks about how in a few years, the population would double, and there would be a massive food shortage. It incorporates the theory of exponential population and arithmetic food supply growth. Primarily, those who give birth are considered selfish. They are seen as procreating for their own welfare, leaving their children to fend for themselves, and not being concerned for their individual well-being.
A Redditor(A person who is a citizen of the social media platform, Reddit) talked about how her mother experienced postpartum depression after giving birth to her third child and suicide within a year of the child’s birth. The Redditor’s grandparents were forced to take them in as their father was incapable of looking after them. She went on to talk about how she and her siblings struggled to live with their grandparents, who didn’t want them there.
The biggest problem put forth by antinatalists is that these children are brought into a cruel world and often not given proper guidance. There are endless possibilities as to why they would be damaged once they get to adulthood, unstable homes, childhood traumas, financial problems, and parents abandoning them, to name a few. Furthermore, there is the issue of consent. Even though this argument absolutely makes no sense, a lot of the antinatalist population stand by it. They make a case saying that creating your progeny is morally an issue because of the impossibility of gaining consent from the human to be brought into existence.
Today’s largest group of antinatalists are the Gen-Z and the Millenials, and the best way this group of people expresses their emotions and thoughts is through the meme culture. The number of memes supporting antinatalists is innumerable, and obviously, these are all quality content memes.
Both these generations have decided to close the reproductive tap and live their own lives.
In 2019, an Indian man sued his parents for giving birth to him without taking his consent!
The banter between the natalist and antinatalists is mind-boggling. Both sides argue with so much passion, one could just sit back with some popcorn and read all the tea. Nonetheless, the controversy of the concept is exceptionally high and is a serious topic of discussion.
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