[Moped]

My partner and I have been trying to have our first child, but with all this doom and gloom around I'm wondering if its such a good idea. Anyone else in this position?

[edit - moved topic from Peak Oil Discussion to Open Discussion Forum - markl]

[eastbay]

New Zealand? I say go for it. Just one.


For those living just about anywhere else, forget it for now and wait until the smoke clears.

[Cashmere]

No.

and I disagree about NZ - NZ is going to revert to a pre-industrial wasteland quicker than most.

Look at imports and exports and your major nat. gas field, which is about to deplete massively.

Bad news all around, and the ocean isn't a buffer, it's a wall.

[Gerben]

It's always a good time to start a family. We're talking about a long crisis ahead. If you try to wait it out you might never get to it. And it might be a false alarm this time.

[bodigami]

Not now. Maybe after TSHTF, and only if you survived and think your offspring will not live in pain.

This may be an extreme example, but think of those having offspring in Haiti... with Peak Oil, and if the die-off happens (I'm being optimistic and generous for this thread) then it will be like knowing your country will become similar to Haiti and have offspring with this knowledge. If we survive, and TSHTF becomes the start of a change and rebirth of our relationship with nature then go ahead! ...I'm fine waiting after TSHTF to have offspring, there are just too many of us and I will not feel good with giving my (potential) offspring a life in Hell.

[basil_hayden]

The 16 month old has brought prep time to a screeching halt.

Prep first then party on.

In the meantime, practice is great!

[KingM]

What if people had stopped having kids during the Depression, during the World Wars, during the 13th Century of the Fifth Century?

I certainly wouldn't listen to the people on this board for making family decisions.

[Cashmere]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hat if people had stopped having kids during the Depression, during the World Wars, during the 13th Century of the Fifth Century?

[Ayoob]

Me and the old lady are planning on 3 or 4. I need backup!

[Sellis1012]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', 'M')e and the old lady are planning on 3 or 4. I need backup!

[bodigami]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Gerben', 'I')t's always a good time to start a family. (...)

[Bongoman]

I would have to agree with Zensui.

Since the world is overpopulated by about 2 billion people or more (you may check statistics to confirm it) - depending on who you talk to, the calculations vary - one would be hard-pressed to really want to procreate at a time like this.

But, again, these are opinions and you are a free man/woman to decide for yourself. But it is good, if one thinks before reproducing, to do some reading, look at the stats, compare notes with friends, etc.

If your desire is strong to have a family, and you have the means to provide a healthy and happy family environment and are ready and willing to take care of them through extremely harsh times and also are ready to stop at 1-2 kids (2 children per couple keeps the population constant (assuming everyone else is doing the same)), then perhaps you could go ahead with it.

But do the math and factor in major inflation in the future taking into account how much (roughly speaking if one can make any sort of predictions about an insane future) everything will cost.

Living in NZ, as someone pointed out, will be harsh.

Cheers

[Fredrik]

If you presume NZ to be self-sufficient in food, and able to provide a minimum of energy for its citizens in the post-PO future, I don't see why not. Now it's still possible to get affordable high-level medical support for birthgiving and child, something that might not be available maybe after five years.

And as has been pointed out repeatedly before, children will probably be your only support after you're retired.

[oxj]

Think like the Amish.

[mgibbons19]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ayoob', 'M')e and the old lady are planning on 3 or 4. I need backup!

[kokoda]

In the not too distant future do you think that your children will thank you for bringing them onto this earth?

[Ferretlover]

This is certainly a complicated subject!
OTOH, there are already waaayyy too many people on the earth.
OTOH, having a child now when there are still medical facilities available would be better than a few years down the road when you don't have gas to get to the hospital, the doctor might not be able to get there, etc.
As it turns out, I could have had my two sons at home; however, two sisters, and several extended family members had C-sections. Only you and your SO can decide what is best for you.
Will you be able to feed it longterm? Can you school it if public education is not available?

[AgentR]

I am certain that those that find a way to survive will find a way to experience love and joy, and all those other wonderful reasons to live.

Our technological comforts and gluttony are not the norm for human existence; they are the temporary, obscene exception to the rule.

[Moped]

Good opinion on this issue. Choosing not to procreate is equal to genetic suicide, whereas procreation is arguably the only reason to exist. I think of the thousands of generations of ancestry that came before me, had any one of those generations had failed to breed, the genetic line would have been broken and I would not be alive to experience the ride today. On the other hand one of the virtues of being human is that we can choose not to procreate, even if that means our own hardship in old age, that would be better than helplessly watching your own children or grandchildren die in agonising pain, or suffer under tirany, or die for tha lack of clean water, or adequate shelter, or simply starve to death which is almost now a certainty for a portion of the current population.