Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Or not?

Children are free to follow suit with whatever life pursuits they desire.

The vast majority of people won't be consciously fighhting the climate and consume vast amounts of resources.

I feel that the excuses for having children when we know the collapse of most ecosystems is essentially inevitable at this point just hide the lack of ethics on the matter.



It's not unethical to have children and no one needs an excuse to have them. Technically speaking, it's literally the only reason there is any life on earth. Don't have them if you don't want them, but this isn't an area where you can dictate someone else's choices.


Parent comment isn't a dictator. He can't 'dictate' whether you procreate or not, but he's arguing that it may be unethical to cause more suffering by doing so.


It's dictator like because it removes personal sovereignty, that aside I'd argue it's an unethical argument for multiple reasons.

Who gets to decide who can have children and who can't? That's a decision that can't be made ethically.

If the suggestion is that no one can reproduce, then I'd also call the extinction of the human race unethical.


There must exist a point where it becomes unethical to have children.


Ethics are a human framework that doesn't exist if there are no humans. To end child birth isn't ethical, it's the end of ethics.


And if you were to trace back in time one generation from there, you'd discover the point where it became unethical to have children.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: