Why do we have to keep the population going?

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People who advocate having kids often argue that we have to have kids in order to keep the human population going. In my opinion, that is a very selfish reason to have kids. Imagine parents telling their kids that they had to have them so that the world wouldn't face a population shortage. I've been hearing a lot lately that the United States and other western countries are seeing a population decrease. They are saying that the United States has seen the lowest number of births this year and last year within the last century. Experts say that declining birth rates are bad for the economy. Do these experts understand that having kids today is expensive? With stagnant wages, student loan debt, and the average cost of raising one child being $300,000, it should not be a surprise why more educated people are not having kids. Not to mention this world is not a good place especially with the direction we are heading in. Why is it anyone's duty or obligation to have kids? Once we are all dead, why does it matter what shape the world is in or if there is a world left when we are long gone?

With so many things addressed in there and each of those things having several factors within itself, approaching the whole post is an overwhelming task; here's a bit about just one thing in it,

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31901943


https://www.tofugu.com/japan/population ... fect-japan

Because some people care about this world just for itself, and for all the other species that live here besides humans. The world should not be preserved just to continue to be used and abused by humans, in my opinion. Other things here have value, including the earth itself, even if we are all dead.
I agree it's selfish to start telling people to have more kids when the population is already unmanageable. We should be working on deliberate population decrease.
But then again, my relatives told me they only had me so my sibling would have company. They did not want another child - they just wanted the one they had to have a sibling.

You'd enjoy reading about anti-natalism.

We propagate the species because its a social and biological imperative. No logical reason is really necessary.

It isn't anyone's, or anyway any one's, duty or obligation to have kids. Kids are too much work to have out of duty, or obligation, or because sperm met egg and pre-viability infanticide is a sin, or for basically ANY REASON other than "I want to raise a mess of children." Duty and obligation are BAD reasons. As bad as, "I wanted a living doll to play with" and "I got pregnant and couldn't come up with money for the abortion."

On a human race scale?? Yes. Someones, or more accurately some ones, have to reproduce in sufficient numbers for decimation of the population not to reduce the diversity of the gene pool below the point of being able to adapt quickly in the face of radical change, or the species will not survive.

But that's not actually your personal problem. All you, personally, have to do about that is not support leaders or movements that are in favor of eugenics and genocide. Don't support the people that want to reduce the population below 500,000,000 so we can all live like upper-middle-class Americans and still be in balance with nature, and I promise you're doing your bit for the survival of the species.

The population in the UK is increasing so rapidly that it's overloading all public services. I don't know what idiot thought up having the UK as a "multicultural" country, because it is not working. There are people EVERYWHERE, and the roads are becoming gridlocked with millions of cars, and vast housing estates are being built everywhere, and houses are so expensive these days...

And yet us Brits can't say anything otherwise we will be called "racist" because of all this political correctness s**t.

They say that it is minorities and immigrants reproducing in massive numbers. The UK and the rest of Europe have seen a huge increase in Muslims over the last few years. They say that white people and people in western countries aren't reproducing as much as other groups of people. Birth rates have declined in the US, Canada, and Japan. I don't think birth rate declines are a bad thing. The problem is is that less developed countries such as African countries and India are contributing the most to the population and more developed countries are having fewer kids. I think the world would be a better place if people of all races and ethnic groups would stop reproducing in massive numbers. With over 7 billion people and counting, humans are not going to go extinct for a very long time. In my opinion, we don't need to keep procreating because we have limited resources and this world just does not need more people.

I haven't heard from experts that declining birth-rates are necessarily bad, but I also haven't looked much into that. I do not think having kids just to keep the human population going is the best idea...best to think about if you'd be a good parent. I myself do not want kids because for one I think it would be too overwhelming for me also I don't think I could take very good care of them, even if I did make good efforts and I don't particularly like dealing with children.

However I disagree that 'the world is not a good place' I mean sure there is some bad stuff that happens and there is quite a lot of world-wide political tension and such so those things are worrying, but people can change the direction things are going in...I like to maintain a little bit of hopefulness that the human race won't destroy itself. Also though it matters what shape the world is in after we die...because even when you die life goes on. Also there are plants and animals that can thrive with or without humans so the very least we can do if we die out is at least leave the rest of the planet to go on.

I think that the world is not a good place on a more one to one person level.

School is horrible. Children pick on and bully each other.

If you're not normal you get treated like you don't matter and it's a lonely empty life.
You can't have a loving relationship either if you're not quite right. Look at all the lonely people on this forum.

Then there is illness which causes so much suffering. I have friends with horrible hormone issues that really make life difficult. I have chronic fatigue syndrome and every day is a struggle to get through. I catch whatever colds are going round. I also have hyperhidrosis. Everyday is uncomfortable for me.

There is no way in hell I'm having children. Life is unpleasant. I wouldnt wish it on anyone.

There's people with disabilities who are having their benefits taken away and don't know how they're going to survive. There are people who are one paycheck away from being homeless if they lose their job. There are people who will become bankrupt if they develop cancer.

Then if you go to any popular city you might get run over and killed by some nutcase.

Life is crap.