The human overpopulation of the planet is destroying other species and the environmental conditions necessary to support Earth's species at an astonishing rate. The single most significant thing any human animal can do to reduce their negative impact on the ecosystem is to not reproduce.
When scientists talk about overpopulation, they are usually referring to a population exceeding its biological carrying capacity which is defined as "the maximum number of animals that a specific habitat or area can support without causing deterioration or degradation of that habitat.”
What is important to remember is that every additional human animal on the planet means two things for our fellow Earthlings:
A. Less space and food (natural habitat) for other animals.
B. More animals killed for food by humans.
The direction of the number of human animals needs (for the sake of the planet, for our fellow Earthlings and for ourselves) to be decreasing, not increasing. We could make the number decrease by killing (and we are amazingly good at that) or by death from disease or starvation or whatever....or we could make the number decrease by not adding to it and letting death due to age begin to bring the number down. Obviously the least violent and painful way to make our numbers drop is to quit having so many children.
So...thanks is due to those courageous and heroic human females (inadvertently or not) who have had the generosity and vision to help all living beings by being UnMothers. Your planet thanks you, your fellow Earthlings thank you...especially all mothers who aren't human animals, and I thank you. You are appreciated and valued and treasured.
Your not having children means you voted to have more tigers living in the wild instead of another McDonalds hamburger joint.
You voted to preserve, not to destroy. You voted for the future, not for the now. This is caring, this is concern, this is love...this is true "mothering". Be impressed with yourselves, you should be...we all should be. Thank you!!!
11 comments:
An excellant blog post. I am 55 and have 2 sons. I love them with all my heart and can't imagine my life without them -but- if I could go back in time I would choose not to have children. Back in 1976 I was young and ignorant. Neither of my sons have children. They are 30 & 33 years old. As much as I wanted grandchildren I have been advising them for years not to bring any more people on this planet and at least on this point they have taken my advice. Sadly, neither of them are vegetarians or animal/environmentally conscious people and they both think that I am 'crazy' but at least they've taken my advice on the child aspect they heard me and for that I am grateful. Meanwhile I am still hoping that they will find their way to a compassionate path in life. It's my fault, as their mother I failed them as their teacher. I did not become a vegetarian until my late 40's nor did I discover 'composting' until 3 years ago.
Thank you for this post , as always your post are profound and thought provoking.
I had to think about this one for quite some time before commenting and I am still athunkin. There are some beautiful human mothers out there (mine included) and I thank them for being who they are.
I knew from an early age, I didnt want kids. Despite all the comments from people."GASP" "you dont want children?" "if you met the right man...." "are you a lesbian?". All very rude statements and questions. Motherhood is a priviledge, a job with no retirement, save death and frankly if you choose to be a mom it should be your greatest accomplishment. (no, not the having part of the kid, but raising a decent human) Just because you can do something, that doesnt mean you should. I feel very sorry for all the innocent children brought into the world with no real thought to their well-being. Just as I do all the animals. I see all innocence and helplessness as the same and some of the things inflicted on babies are horrific. Anyway I am rambling. Happy Mother's Day to the moms (fur babies Mom's too) and Happy UnMother's Day to me!
I love babies/little kids, but I never really wanted to be a mom. At first it was just because I didn't have that feeling, but over the years it became more about the overpopulation issue that you have highlighted and also because my husband and I do not have money to properly raise a child. And I would never bring a child into this world that I know in advance I might end up on welfare because I did that even if I didn't have the other feelings about overpopulation. I don't feel bad or like I missed out on anything and I do feel like it was a good thing that I didn't. Thanks for pointing out the statistics because this (human overpopulation) is something that truly does need to be taken very seriously. Your post is also nice because most of the time society either on purpose or accidentally makes women without children feel like they DID something wrong or are somehow not normal or not 'real women'. That has never affected me, but I've known a couple women who it makes feel very, very bad. The way you have highlighted the benefits to not adding more humans to the planet is something that anyone who does not yet have children should consider carefully. And to the hu-moms out there who are raising your kids to be cruelty-free, vegan, correct beings, Happy Mother's Day! And Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there, whether furry, feathered, scaly or other.
Sheesh...my husband started talking to me while I was writing and I forgot that I also wanted to wish us gals without children a happy day for our part, just like you so wonderfully described in this post.
I agree (and have done my part, snort), but we absolutely need more true "mothering" (as you mentioned) when it comes to providing care and nurturing for youngsters of all species. And I for one am very happy to be a kitty mom and am thankful daily that KJ chose me. :)
Thank you Patty for your poignant comment. I look at parenting and teaching children from the perspective that parents have a unique opportunity to teach and expose their children to knowledge...but...what their children do with that knowledge once they are adults is no longer the responsibility of the parent. Children may (or may not) choose to stick with the parental teaching. Once grown, children are responsible for themselves and accountable for their actions...not the parents and not what the parents did or didn't do. Otherwise, none of us has any personal responsibility, we are off the hook and can blame everything on those who came before us.
While every parent regrets things they did and didn't teach their children, in the end, what the children make of themselves and how they behave toward the world around them is their responsibility...not the parents. Obviously severe abuse or neglect can have lifelong consequences but once the child reaches a point of having the power to survive on their own...they begin to move into the realm of adulthood where they are responsible for their own choices and behaviors. We can steer our children onto bad paths but should they choose to continue on those bad paths...then the responsibility is theirs...just as if we were to steer them onto good paths, if the child chooses to continue on that good path...the credit belongs to them, not to their parents.
Eventually we all stand on our own, responsible for our own behaviors, our own awareness or lack of awareness, our own caring or lack of caring. Parents may help or harm or be ineffectual but they don't determine or control these things.
Someone once said the best you can hope for as a parent is to do it just a little bit better than your parents did. That is achievement enough.
Thank you Christina for commenting. Very well said...Happy UnMother's Day to you too!
Thank you Krissa for commenting. As always, you write with insight and power and your thoughts are appreciated. I do think it is high time we understand that we are wrecking life for most other living things because of our numbers and our greed. Fewer of us means life is better for the other living beings. Those of us courageous enough to "mother" the planet by not adding more human animals are exquisite beings from my perspective. Thank you and Happy UnMother day!
Thank you for commenting HGV. Caring for all is the epitome of "mothering". I am certain KJ is ecstatic with his mom! Happy UnMother day to you!
Veganelder - You're Welcome! You're Welcome! You're Welcome! --- And I thank myself too all the time!
I remember sitting in study hall as a Sr in HS. I was reading Alvin Toffler's Future Shock and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. By the time graduation day came I was absolutely convinced I would not contribute to what was an already over burdened planet.
And that's not to say I don't love the born... The wanted. The planned. The ones brought into this world by conscientious parents. Babies are beautiful - in all species!
But that carrying capacity sure is an eye-opener! My DH says our "breeding" reminds him of bacteria on a petri dish... They consume everything till the only thing left is each other. (ouch!)
So thank you very much for the Happy UnMother kudos... I've lived with this choice through 4 decades. It's been a rare occasion that I've been praised (and not pitied or condemned) for it.
Much appreciated! :)
Thanks for commenting Bea. You're welcome and again...thank you.
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