The doomsday quality of the climate change movement is on track to harm more than it helps. Fears of impending environmental doom have actually spurred some to abandon their plans to have children. Not only is this behavior sheer nonsense, but it will work to weaken society as a whole.
While millennials (those born between 1980 and 1998) should be in the midst of establishing families and raising children, concerns about the future are giving them pause on these pursuits. As reported, the country’s birthrate is “at its lowest in 32 years, with 2018 being the fourth consecutive year of decline.” Even though climate change isn’t the only worry, it is now listed among more tangible problems like debt, employment, and the economy.
During a livestream in March, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even wondered aloud, “There’s a scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult. And it does lead, I think, young people to have a legitimate question: Is it okay to still have children?”
Unfortunately, the idea of avoiding difficulty to such a degree feels like an attribute of the millennial generation; I say this as a millennial myself. Instead of recognizing that one will face hardships and crises of various forms during life, there is a tendency to remove even the possibility of that occurring by shirking responsibility, reassigning blame, or making a drastic change in plans. To be fair, millennials aren’t the only ones who can and do act like this, but increasingly it seems to be a trend. Furthermore, it is a deeply arrogant assumption that this generation is facing, or will face, the worst of times.
It only takes a quick look at previous generations to realize there has always been a lengthy list of anxieties. Our parents and grandparents experienced The Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, recessions, drug and AIDs epidemics, and job uncertainty, just to name a select few. There is never a time when concerns over the present and future health of our communities and nation as a whole have ceased to exist.
It is in spite of surrounding turmoil that the majority of people in any generation choose to get married, have children, and do their part to contribute to and strengthen society in these foundational ways. And when it comes to the fabric of civilization, the nuclear family is an integral factor that should be celebrated, not maligned.
Abortion is too often the answer to an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy. The very idea that reproduction as a whole is seen by some as immoral rather than a stabilizing good is hardly surprising. But this attitude grows more pervasive as the climate change alarmists insist we only have a few years left to save the world.
Even science journalist Michael Marshall, who views climate change as a problem in need of a solution, writes how unhelpful it is to assign apocalyptic end dates to the issue: “The point is that the climate is not so simple as to give us a neat cutoff date for action. Indeed, there is an argument that putting it in terms of deadlines just creates a feeling of hopelessness when we inevitably miss them.” In addition, this hopeless alarmism often seems more like a political push toward socialism than it does legitimate addressing of the problem.
So, does this mean that men and women should feel forced to have children of their own? Of course not. Becoming a parent is a serious personal decision that is a demanding, lifelong role. However, it is foolish to reject family life based either on problems that have and will always plague us or on environmental end dates that aren’t even certain.
During a recent interview, Kanye West said it best: “The richest thing that you can have is as many children as possible.”
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
