CMV: Saying “poor people shouldn’t have kids” is classist and ignores how the world actually works
I see this take all over Reddit. To me, it’s one of the dumbest, most narrowminded viewpoints anyone can come up with. First off, it discounts the reality of so many people across the globe, that aren’t born in a rich country. Why should a subsistence farmer in Uganda not have kids? He is gonna need help on his farm, and someone to take care of him when he gets old.
You might then say, oh, I only mean rich countries, where people have a choice (which to me, is a really parochial perspective). But even then, in the country I live in, in Scandinavia, there are massive financial incentives for poor people to have kids. A lot of social benefits are contingent on you having them. And even in Scandinavia, your public pension is not gonna help you much on its own when you age.
Lastly, what’s common for poor people all over, is that poverty can be extremely isolating, and take away almost all agency and control over your life. Of course poor people are gonna wanna have kids. Saying they shouldn’t completely disregards their financial incentives and denies them basic human agency. To me, it’s a classist, ignorant and all around shameful view to espouse.