Who should have children?

[Night FM]

I think it's readily obvious that some people shouldn't have children (e.x. severe cases of child abuse and neglect). Likewise, I think we can agree that society needs some amount of people willing to have children at any given time (e.x. if no one had children, humanity would cease to exist), but obviously that doesn't mean that society needs everyone who is currently having children to be doing so.

Regarding "how many children" society needs people having, this is a tricker question. Theoretically humanity could "survive" even if only a small amount of people were having children (just as how humans existed for most of history as hunter-gatherers, and larger populations presumably didn't come about until the advent of agriculture and civilization). How many would be a "good number" therefore would have to be relative to the resources needed to sustain them and provide them with quality of life, however this matter is rather subjective. Just as how some may argue that children are needed to sustain what currently exists, though in reality not everything that currently exists necessarily needs to be sustained, and some things might be better off not being sustained.

[swansont]

Who should have children? People who want them, and make the decision to do so.

It’s really not anybody else's business whether someone decides to have children or not.

[Phi for All]

I voted against having my society tell us how many children it needed us to have. In fact, JD Vance can go have sex with a couch and I still don't think society should require him to have children by it.

[J.C.MacSwell]

15 hours ago, swansont said:

Who should have children? People who want them, and make the decision to do so.

It’s really not anybody else's business whether someone decides to have children or not.

Sure. Speak for the West...it's certainly Putin's business in Russia (and eventually other recovered territories):

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-battling-birth-rate-dip-is-working-child-free-ideology-ban-says-putin-2024-09-24/

[swansont]

“not anybody else's business” doesn’t mean that some won’t try and poke their nose into it, but where people have agency to decide, they tend to keep those intruders out.

[MigL]

Who should have children?
Anyone who wants that responsibility; children tend to make people better versions of themselves.

Who should not have children?
Mothers whose sons post inane topics on SFn, and whose name has 'FM' in it.