http://antinatalism.freeforums.net/
The guy running this forum is a friend of mine from Twitter, one of the only guys I know who'll patiently indulge my ramblings in the wee hours before I return to my coffin at daybreak (or thereabouts). He's thoughtful, funny, quick with the wit and just plain interested in various subjects that touch on our shared existential dilemma, AND he's recently learned to microwave killer cornbread! So come, fellow antinatalists, come post with us, won't you?
http://antinatalism.freeforums.net/
Sunday, December 20, 2015
Monday, December 14, 2015
A Somewhat Political Rant About Population Control
I was listening to some talk radio in the mid 80s, right before Rush Limbaugh and his ilk turned the medium into a vast wasteland, and the subject of population control came up. I wasn’t an antinatalist at the time, but was keen to listen. Growing up in the 70s I’d been exposed to lots of talk about dwindling resources, carbon footprints and the like, and there was much serious discussion about just how many people, along with their accompanying trundle sledge of irredeemable byproducts, the planet could agreeably sustain. Truly, in those days it would have seemed fashionably irresponsible NOT to consider the issue. Unfortunately, I kind of dropped out of the zeitgeist for a decade or so to serve as a foot-soldier for a Jim Jones wannabe (all the wackiness with just HALF the violence!), but after some time spent recovering my senses I once again turned my attention to daily global affairs, and guess what? Not a peep, and the population had doubled. So, I settled into my pickup truck’s bench seat and prepared myself for a nice philosophical diversion from the freeway traffic I was stuck in.
To make a long story short, what I actually got was some hem hawing, shoe shuffling, throat clearing, namby pamby avoisure (to quote Kent Brockman) of the subject for about 30 seconds before both the host and guest managed to trip over themselves onto a safer landing. So what happened? What changed between then and then in such a dramatic way that within 15 years the most globally relevant philosophical/political issue on the tips of everybody’s tongues dropped into the asshole of historical obscurity faster than Sabrina Rubin Eredely?
I suppose it’s a matter of ideologies that get too big for their britches and lose sight of the practical side of things. In the fight for so-called autonomy we sometimes lose sight of context, including concerns for thriving survivability. Common sense gets swept away in a tumult of professional victimization and finger pointing. Same goes for these massive human migrations we’re witnessing around the planet these days. Compassion and pragmatism MUST co-exist in some sort of balance, and all the grandstanding I’m hearing from certain corners of the political arena blinds us to this one simple fact: TOO MANY PEOPLE!
Well, there’s a rare political rant from moi. I actually lost my taste for it about halfway through, so it probably feels a bit truncated. So be it! The problem with politics, see, is that it’s never what it seems to be, and the variables are endless. Now that I think about it, politics should be outlawed. Some day...
To make a long story short, what I actually got was some hem hawing, shoe shuffling, throat clearing, namby pamby avoisure (to quote Kent Brockman) of the subject for about 30 seconds before both the host and guest managed to trip over themselves onto a safer landing. So what happened? What changed between then and then in such a dramatic way that within 15 years the most globally relevant philosophical/political issue on the tips of everybody’s tongues dropped into the asshole of historical obscurity faster than Sabrina Rubin Eredely?
I suppose it’s a matter of ideologies that get too big for their britches and lose sight of the practical side of things. In the fight for so-called autonomy we sometimes lose sight of context, including concerns for thriving survivability. Common sense gets swept away in a tumult of professional victimization and finger pointing. Same goes for these massive human migrations we’re witnessing around the planet these days. Compassion and pragmatism MUST co-exist in some sort of balance, and all the grandstanding I’m hearing from certain corners of the political arena blinds us to this one simple fact: TOO MANY PEOPLE!
Well, there’s a rare political rant from moi. I actually lost my taste for it about halfway through, so it probably feels a bit truncated. So be it! The problem with politics, see, is that it’s never what it seems to be, and the variables are endless. Now that I think about it, politics should be outlawed. Some day...
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Resin
A sapling asked an oak tree tall,
"What's the point in growing,
when, at the end, we simply fall
into the dark unknowing
that dwells deep in the heart of trees,
and in all of life, I fear?"
The oak tree shivered in the breeze,
but the sapling didn't hear.
"What's the point in growing,
when, at the end, we simply fall
into the dark unknowing
that dwells deep in the heart of trees,
and in all of life, I fear?"
The oak tree shivered in the breeze,
but the sapling didn't hear.
Professor David Benatar Interview
http://www.thecritique.com/interviews/why-we-should-stop-reproducing-an-interview-with-david-benatar-on-anti-natalism/
Monday, September 21, 2015
Friday, September 4, 2015
Festivities Kick Off This Afternoon
Festivities kick off this afternoon,
the party to dwarf all such galas past.
They'll howl beneath the urgent, waxing moon,
and make love on the waxen, melting grass.
They'll take turns at the speaker's podium
to voice their fair hurrahs and last goodbyes,
and shoot their guns into the tumbling skies-
wee thanes beneath the shoe of kingdom come.
But all the crowing, bluffs, and shaking fists
shall ne'er hold off their portion, and for this,
I'll not attend the circus at the end,
but pause in solitude, remembering friends.
And thus, in recollection of those passed,
I'll make peace with mortality, at last.
the party to dwarf all such galas past.
They'll howl beneath the urgent, waxing moon,
and make love on the waxen, melting grass.
They'll take turns at the speaker's podium
to voice their fair hurrahs and last goodbyes,
and shoot their guns into the tumbling skies-
wee thanes beneath the shoe of kingdom come.
But all the crowing, bluffs, and shaking fists
shall ne'er hold off their portion, and for this,
I'll not attend the circus at the end,
but pause in solitude, remembering friends.
And thus, in recollection of those passed,
I'll make peace with mortality, at last.
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