Thank you for the exchange, I have enjoyed it.. and it has caused me to think about what is really upsetting me: The American concept of Entitlement. We believe we deserve everything we have.. and after reading ‘The Long Emergancy’.. I have come to realize that the American Dream is going to end. I am having a hard time swallowing this and it is hickuping up in strange ways.

The other issue it has brought up for me is the concept of ‘Devolution’. Which some people say will happen if the educated people do not procreate as fast as the people who are poor. I am happy that you have 4 children.. because you are one of the people out there that is fighting this trend.

Thanks Again.

James

I am upset with the mindset that everyone deserves to have children. Why? I have a lot of co-workers that pressure me to have children and I feel like telling them that it is rude to push people into breeding. I have a lifestyle that I enjoy and I’m not ready to make the sacrifices that it would take to have children. And I’m not willing to ask my family to help. I’m not willing to ask the village to help. Should I?

Thank you for responding. Uh, can I ask

My family has taken responsiblity for my sister’s actions by helping her children

Where is the FATHER of the children?

See, growing up in a Protestant home, attending temple with my Jewish friends, being married for 16 years to an Irish Roman Catholic (and attending a Catholic church for much of those years), I haven’t seen any church/synagogue preach irresponsibility. Indeed, one of the heavy duty underlying themes is to step up to the plate and live up to God’s expectations for one’s own life.

I have four daughters and no where in the time they were growing up did my husband and I think anyone besides ourselves were responsible for OUR children.

Course, if one thinks “it’s the village’s responsibility” to care for ALL children, then some who embrace that attitude is not surprising.

BTW, if someone is NOT on long term welfare, food stamps, etc, how is having 3 or 4 kids “not planning” or “taking advantage of the system?”

I realize that anti-abortionists don’t frame the debate that way; the religious dogmatists have the loudest voice. Nevertheless, I think resentment of having to pay for an act they opposed helped generate a critical mass among those who might otherwise have been moderates.

Do you know where a lot of domestic porn is made? In Chatsworth, California. Porn is legal and the making of it generates revenue for the San Fernando Valley town. However, it’s not the kind of thing one would be…

you Americans shoud come visit Canada (especially Quebec);-).

Been there, done that, would love to do it again. Even in the winter. Especially in the winter. I like snow.

Jill challenged you to come up with examples of anyone’s personal Christmas celebrations being threatened, and you responded with a story about city firefighters.

In any event, people who believe that “the lord will provide” don’t necessarily have to believe that they’re going to depend on welfare. They may rely on church donations or hope for college scholarships. But that sort of fatalism isn’t very conducive to planning one’s future.

Maybe they could give out extra-salty pretzels at the clinics, and then you’d make it up on the soft drinks concession.

Ah..hahahahaha! Better still, sell T-shirts and other memorabilia in the waiting room. Post cards of the front of the clinic for that irritable ex-boyfriend. Key chains and bumper stickers for liberal moms who still think Carter was the best we’ve ever head. I can see it now…

Yeah! Let’s hear it for New York, baby. It’s not all about the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, and Ground Zero!