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Show children...or maybe you just thought breastfeeding was an effective method of birth control and you wound up with the proverbial “surprise”. In that case, you have get a credit from someone else in your family in order to avoid your conscience. Think of it like a bank and each unused child credit in your family gets deposited. The more family members with no children, the greater your balance. It's a pretty good system, but it’s a little tricky knowing how far back on the family tree to start keeping tabs. (You also have to worry about your far-removed, distant-cousin- whom-you've-nevermet trying to borrow credits from your direct family line because she went nuts and decided to birth an even dozen or maybe the fertility drugs were a little too effective.) As I said, it's hard to know how far back to go but since overpopulation is a relatively new issue in the geologic scheme of things, I will limit myself to my generation and my parents. Basically, my family tree looks more like a spindly poplar than a magnificent oak. We've had a fair amount of attrition and not much in the way of reproduction. My mother's two sisters had no children and neither of my stepsisters have living children. There's four in the bank right there. IfI got (took?) their credits, plus the one I automatically get for myself, | am way more than covered _ (barring an unforeseen multiple birth that I would certainly classify as an Act of God). Besides, a safety net is beneficial. After all, 1 am not an unwed mother and since my husband has already exceeded his quota, further justification is in order. Okay, he gets to reproduce himself STREA MOFC ONSC IOUS NESS... and so does his ex-wife, which leaves him two over. In examining his family bank, his brother never had kids, so he can use that credit. (In Peter's case it is essential to look By Anne Wilson “only within two generations as his great-grandfather had two wives who bore nineteen children between them. If we went back that far, the bank overdraft would Part of the Problem It's ironic that the topic of overpopulation and overconsumption is the focus for the Zephyr at the same time that I will have my first child. Overpopulation was one of my concerns over the years as I pondered whether or not to have children. Not a drop of the blood running through my veins has any ancestry in Catholicism and ‘| yet my level of guilt, when I think of the 6+ billion people on the planet, the hordes of children who lack a family, the state of the environment, and myriad other problems, might belie this.(Of course, if I was Catholic 1 would be absolved of guilt in this particular instance.) My situation is compounded by the fact that my husband — already has children...four of them. So if I experience strong feelings of guilt and if I believe in population control, why did I decide to procreate? Why do any of us? Well, let me dig myself a nice big hole and say I honestly think that having children frequently comes down to selfishness. And, if you have awareness or a conscience about overpopulation, justification. Think about it. Say for instance, you just like kids. Or you plan on having a bunch because they're a convenient labor source. Or you want to see your genetic line live on into the future. Or you know there is so much being a parent can teach you. Or your welfare payment will be increased if you add another child to your - mean no one in his family could give birth for generations....which as you can see, presents a conundrum.) To preserve my safety net we're going to debit his fourth child from his ex-wife's family. (Really I think this is only fair - Peter accounts for half their kids and she accounts for the other half - but you see where other connected family lines borrowing from yours could ultimately present a problem.) One of her brothers will never have kids, so we'll apply his credit to the last child of that union. As for our progeny, well, here's where the safety net comes in handy. | will use my automatic credit for the first child and if we decide to have another I'll draw on the four in my family bank. Even in that instance, my family is still ahead with three remaining credits. (This means I can indulge in the very tiniest hint of self-satisfaction to relieve some of the remaining guilt over reproducing, but only for a few minutes.) Phew. : So if Lexperience strong feelings of guilt and if I believe in population control, household. Or they're just so darn cute. Or you want to be needed and loved by someone. Or you want to experience life fully and there's no other love or commitment like that which you will give to a child. Or you know you could be a much better parent than yours were. Well, those are all selfish reasons. They may or may not be understandable, depending on who you are, but they're all selfish. I don't excuse myself. After all, it's so much fun to take my hair shirt off the shelf and wear it for awhile. I have a choice and I decided to have kids. | am part of the problem and a perfect example of why the whole issue of overpopulation cannot In all seriousness, what my decision really comes down to is the fact that I be conveniently laid at the feet of the uneducated, unaware procreators of the “Third World”. (After all, my child will probably consume far more of the world's resources weighed the pros and cons and decided that I only live once. I am not prepared, with than an entire family of children in India...and that's if I'm a conscientious consumer.) regard to the issue of children, to compromise the type and quality of experience I | And I am, at least, conscientious. That means I have thoroughly thought about my want for myself. And that, however justifiable or understandable is selfish as far as reasons for having a child and I have justified my decision (some people would say " the planet is concerned. | think this is the crux of the issue as it applies to those of us who have the education, the knowledge, the wherewithal, and the power to choose I've been very “high maintenance” on the issue, but that's all relative). if and how we reproduce. It is within our power to not have children because of First, my reasons. They're not particularly original. I like kids. I believe that my life will be richer and fuller if I have children and I want that type of experience overpopulation and overconsumption. It is a virtuous decision. It is extremely hard to make. in my life. I want the kind of relationship with another being that I had with my parents. I want the experience.of creating and carrying a child. And to be honest, in This is one of the primary reasons I don’t have much hope for humans my own mind I left a certain amount of the decision to Fate since I wasn't sure I could voluntarily curbing overpopulation. We could probably put a dent in its nauseatingly even have children. Kind of an “if it's meant to be” scenario. Some people might call rapid escalation through education and affordable, perhaps even free, access to birth that ducking accountability. control, but that does not address choice adequately. And frankly, I don't think Now for my justification, which is based upon the zero population growth reproduction should be legislated. No matter what. There would be too many concept. I have concocted what I call the Transfer of Child Credit (TCC) scheme. The inequalities involved in deciding who gets to reproduce and how often. In the end, basic principle is that each person in a family is allotted a credit of one offspring. If in the bigger picture, the planet will adapt. It's just that humans won't. (As an aside, they have a spouse, that person brings his or her credit to the union which means the while I may have qualms about legislating people's right to reproduce, the Wisconsin couple can have two children without penalty. Say you want more than two Supreme Court recently entered the foray of reproductive rights by ruling that-a why did I decide to procreate? Why do any of us? WHAT DO WE DO? We write custom software for the big people and the little...OK.,.We take that real big file cabinet full of paper and put it all into your computer. 121 E. 100S. #108 Moab, UT 84532 435.259.4384 800.635.5280 If we could learn to learn from pain _ even as it grabs us... Adrienne Rich ° |