I read an article

[jerrybob]

RSKY , you still on them drugs ?

Probably out making babies.......:confused2:

 

[NorTracNY]

I chose not to reproduce! I do enjoy (some) kids and am close to my nieces and nephews.
What I don't enjoy is having to pay for everyone else's reproductive choices!
My county just passed a 1/2 cent additional sales tax "for the schools" so everybody with little darlings has a babysitter paid for by those without.
My business tools have a "Tangible Personal Property Tax" that goes partially to the schools.
At one job that I had in the past the guy working next to me got paid the same BUT he got up to $5000. more in benefits. The annual benefits plan showed the details.
So the next time you run into one of these childless persons Thank them for helping you support your offspring!
The term for it is Socialism. Funny how just a little of it is considered a good thing.

Let's remember that as a person with a business you can hire educated people because of the schools that you help pay for. You ride on the roads that educated people have designed, built, and maintained.

 

[CobyRupert]

I have two children and love it but don't understand how this woman's decision not to have children is selfish.

For what ever reason people decide not to reproduce is their free will and breeding is not a requirement of life. Your choice to have children is no better or worse than someone who chooses not to have children.

.

Good point, maybe "selfish" is the wrong word just because she wants to travel and be rich and not be bothered with the burden of children. Who knows, maybe she unselfishly donates a lot of her salary to orphans. In fact, you can make an argument that people with children are "selfish", wanting their genetics to continue at the cost of an overpopulated planet.

 

[ch1ch2]

I know exactly what the op is talking about!
He loves and enjoys the love of his family so much and can't imagine the emptiness without them.

Then there are those without children. They experience others children and are happy with their lives without children, they never really know what it is like to love and be loved by those children.
Its kind of like sex. When your a little kid you never know what your missing. When your young you know it and enjoy it. When your older you experience a third feeling that you can not explain but just have to "be there"

Then there is the "other". Those who had children and are glad they have move on.

I am like the OP.
I was an orphan at 6. I grew up with an uncle that was abusive. I found the love a good woman and now have 2 sons 7 grandkids and 1 great-grandson. I spend quality time with them several times a week. I would like to move but I can not because of them. I love them and the time with them too much.

 

[turnkey4099]

I chose not to reproduce! I do enjoy (some) kids and am close to my nieces and nephews.
What I don't enjoy is having to pay for everyone else's reproductive choices!
My county just passed a 1/2 cent additional sales tax "for the schools" so everybody with little darlings has a babysitter paid for by those without.
My business tools have a "Tangible Personal Property Tax" that goes partially to the schools.
At one job that I had in the past the guy working next to me got paid the same BUT he got up to $5000. more in benefits. The annual benefits plan showed the details.
So the next time you run into one of these childless persons Thank them for helping you support your offspring!
The term for it is Socialism. Funny how just a little of it is considered a good thing.

Of course you got no benefit from the schools when you went through them...

Society as a whole benefits from education, not just those who have kids.
Harry K

 

[turnkey4099]

With apologies to Mace for corrupting his sentence.

I am not against contributing to fund highways but I do feel I should get a significant reduction in the gasoline taxes I am forced to pay for the highways I don't drive on.

I am not against contributing to fund firemen but I do feel I should get a significant reduction in the property taxes I am forced to pay, since I've never had a fire.

I am not against contributing to fund the Coast Guard but I do feel I should get a significant reduction in the income taxes I am forced to pay, since I'm inland and don't have a boat.



Bruce

Good post. That is it in a nutshell!!

 

[Mace Canute]

With apologies to Mace for corrupting his sentence.

No problem.

I am not against contributing to fund highways but I do feel I should get a significant reduction in the gasoline taxes I am forced to pay for the highways I don't drive on.

I pay gasoline taxes in proportion to the miles I drive and the mileage I get. I get a great deal more use out of the road system than just the amount of driving I do on it. Everything I buy and use is delivered via the road system.

I am not against contributing to fund firemen but I do feel I should get a significant reduction in the property taxes I am forced to pay, since I've never had a fire.

I look at it as more of an insurance policy. Without firefighters, my house is in danger of burning down if the house next door or several doors down is set afire. Even one fire could under the right circumstances wipe out whole neighbourhoods if it wasn't contained.

I am not against contributing to fund the Coast Guard but I do feel I should get a significant reduction in the income taxes I am forced to pay, since I'm inland and don't have a boat.

People with ships/boats do pay an added fee here. Marine Services Fees - Canadian Coast Guard - Canadian Coast Guard I would be quite happy if people with children also paid an added fee.

Bruce

While I do acknowledge your analogies I feel a great deal of the time students spend in school is more being babysat then being taught. Very expensive babysitting...

 

[Sodo]

There are many places in the world where people are not called upon to educate the upcoming generations. They are called "3rd world countries".

 

[wcampbell47]

I read through the entire post and came away with the thought there are a lot of people with different ideas. No problem there, each to his own. I did not find the review of the article to be either "selfish" or "condescending" but accept there may be those of a different background who did. My ex and i have 3 children. The oldest I adopted as she had him when we met. The other two are ours together. At one time she said to me that I would be a lonely old man and the kids would have nothing to do with me. Thirty years after that remark just the opposite is true. Her biological children have nothing to do with her and I am welcome anytime in their homes. Don't know why I am posting this other than to say life happens and choices have consequences.

In the Good Book Paul admonished the unmarried to stay that way so that they did not have to take on the responsibilities of a spouse in troubled times. They could stay focused on other work - primarily spiritual. That same principal could be applied in a worldly context. There are countless opportunities to volunteer for good works helping the young, the old, those displaced by tragic circumstances and on and on. I would hope the lady in question in the article has chosen to devote some of her spare time or resources to worthy causes.

My children and grandchildren are a source of great joy (which was not always the case) now that they are mature adults. I say that with the full knowledge that that there are many parents who are continually dismayed by the behavior of their children. Consider the case of the Texas Affluenza teen guilty of killing 4 people in a drunk driving incident.

So who is to say that should she have married and had children she would be happy? I just choose to be grateful and thankful that my children and grandchildren give me joy even though we have had to work our way through trying times. By the way I am much more "free" with my money when it comes to the grandchildren that I ever was with the children. LOL

 

[Gem99ultra]

I chose not to reproduce! I do enjoy (some) kids and am close to my nieces and nephews.
What I don't enjoy is having to pay for everyone else's reproductive choices!
My county just passed a 1/2 cent additional sales tax "for the schools" so everybody with little darlings has a babysitter paid for by those without.
My business tools have a "Tangible Personal Property Tax" that goes partially to the schools.
At one job that I had in the past the guy working next to me got paid the same BUT he got up to $5000. more in benefits. The annual benefits plan showed the details.
So the next time you run into one of these childless persons Thank them for helping you support your offspring!
The term for it is Socialism. Funny how just a little of it is considered a good thing.

Thank you Mace, for the best rendition of my thoughts exactly. I DO have a couple of children, both in their 40's now. And I see no reason that I should have to continue paying school taxes beyond the years of having children going to school. I would be further offended if I had never had any children. But to condone laws that require me to pay taxes all of my life for those breeders that pop out liters of kids and pay no or little tax infuriates me.
For those that want kids, fine. Let them pay taxes for their kids to get free public education on THEIR dime. Not mine. And if anyone thinks that school taxes are a minor expense - they simply need to see the breakdown of my annual tax bill! I've paid my due many times over. Now let them pay their own expenses.