Neurotic behaviour, irrational fears, illogical choices
06 11 07 - 12:42 A report from the Mental Health Foundation says:"Terrorism and immigration worry nation more than climate change and natural disasters.
Most people feel powerless in the face of global problems
According to a new public attitudes survey out today, 1 in 7 adults are reluctant to have children (15%) and 1 in 4 less inclined to plan for the future (27%) because of world troubles.
In a YouGov survey commissioned by the Mental Health Foundation, 70% of people say they are most worried about terrorism and 58% by immigration. In contrast, environmental issues are less of a concern – only a third are worried about climate change (38%) and a quarter by the threat of a natural disaster (23%)."
source
How often we hear people remark that they don’t feel they want to bring a child into this “troubled world”!
This excuse for not reproducing seems to exclusively concern those of European descent. It would be so rare as to be very astonishing if you ever heard someone of non-European ethnicity come up with such a thought. Is this because only Europeans are concerned about the various difficulties in the world? Or is it really that saying you are not having children out of such things as worries over world-overpopulation, war, environmental issues or, as this report suggests, terrorism and immigration, sounds so much more thoughtful and considerate than admitting that the real excuse is truly a lame one. Indeed, how likely is it that someone would admit even to themselves that they are not having a child because they are a coward or they feel a kid would cramp their lifestyle in some way?
It has never been a safer and easier time in history to bring up a child! Deaths in childbirth are at the lowest ever, and the State provides assistance with the basics survival. In places throughout the world now, where there is a permanent threat of war and disease, the people are MORE, not LESS, inclined to reproduce (as were the ancestors of the present Europeans). What world do they think they are bringing children into? These people are the very ones who have the more logical reason to stop having offspring, yet they have many and then, fleeing the mess of a society that their people have created, they come to western shores to escape. These are the immigrants that make the people of the host country so despairing that they see no point in life! Yet if the host country had a healthier birth rate there would be no need for this particular problem to emerge at all! Such an ironic situation. And it just goes to show how pathetic the excuse that it is preferable to not bring a child into these circumstances really is. These problematic circumstances are caused by the weak, and arguably treacherous, negligence of this segment of our population.
The report I have cited mentions that a quarter of people in the UK feel less inclined to plan for their future because of “world troubles”. This lack of planning is lamented by the government, who are finding that people do not feel enough confidence in the stability of the financial market, as well as job security, to commit themselves to a pension scheme. Many people don’t want to do without their hard earned wages in the present, to save up for security in old age. It would be nice to think that cynicism was the only motivation behind this: a distrust of the corporations (or state bodies) that look after such savings and a suspicion that there may never be an opportunity for a conventional retirement as the world moves into unpredictable turmoil. The masses aren’t really that clever though. They have a herd mentality and the general mood is one of: live for today. (And there is still the State pension as a safety net). This attitude in itself can cause a dissolution of society and eventually civilization itself. Not having children is another way of failing to plan ahead, as they are an investment for the future. All in all, people are choosing to live the decadent cliché of fiddling while Rome burns.
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