It’s an important lesson for politicians: never give your enemies a name. Hillary Clinton did it, disastrously, with her off-the-cuff announcement about a “basket of deplorables”. Did it cost her the election? On its own, no, but it certainly didn’t help. Trump supporters, on the other hand, embraced it. Female fans labelled themselves “adorable deplorables” and hand-embroidered the slogan on baseball caps.
Eight years later, the Republicans are suffering from the same mistake, although this time the fatal phrase emerged years before the campaign. In 2021, J.D. Vance (then a Republican candidate for the Senate) gave an interview to Tucker Carlson (then a Fox News host), in which he attacked what he had described as the “childless Left”. The USA, Vance told Carlson, was being run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too”.
Childless cat ladies. Regrettably for Vance and the Republicans in general, it is a great phrase: pointed, memorable — and ripe for the reclaiming. Which is why, when Taylor Swift declared her backing for the Democrats on Tuesday, she did it by posting a picture to Instagram of herself holding one of her three cats (the cat in question is Benjamin Button, a ragdoll). And she signed off: “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady.” Elon Musk responded on X with a gallant offer to impregnate her, which will do little to diminish accusations that Trump supporters are weird.
Her announcement was hardly surprising. Swift backed Biden/Harris in 2020 and has previously lent her support to liberal causes including gun control and abortion rights. But it was an anxiously awaited one. Other pop stars had declared their affiliation long ago: Charli XCX tweeted “kamala IS brat” almost as soon as the vice-president declared her run for the White House. And hours before Swift’s post, The Guardian published “Is Taylor Swift a secret Trump supporter?” The evidence for this was a photograph of her hugging a friend who had liked a Trump post on Instagram. (McCarthyism, apparently, can change its shape but never die.)
And it is a significant move. Swift’s cultural heft makes her a fearsome political force. When she shared a link to a voter registration site in 2023, there were 35,252 new registrations that day; notably, this included a 115% increase in 18-year-olds, who are more likely to vote Democrat. Swift’s audience also skews female, which is significant for an election held in the shadow of the Dodds Supreme Court decision which undid Roe vs Wade. Bluntly, the more women vote, the harder it becomes for Trump to win.
But even though Swift has embraced her electoral power now, she’s historically been cautious. As a young singer-songwriter on the Nashville scene, she cultivated an apolitical stance. One of the country acts she had first been inspired by as a child were the Dixie Chicks (now simply called the Chicks): in 2003, their career was all but destroyed after a member of the band criticised George W. Bush during a concert. “They were made such an example that basically every country artist that came after that, every label tells you, ‘Just do not get involved, no matter what,’” said Swift in 2019.
Overall good article. The title, however, is an absurdity. TS can “afford” pretty much anything she wants.
“Elon Musk responded on X with a gallant offer to impregnate her, which will do little to diminish accusations that Trump supporters are weird“. Trump is weird, but Musk makes him look like an amateur in that department.
Musk has redefined the electronic payments industry, the automotive industry, the space industry and who knows what else he’ll take on?
In the past, we used to champion men like him as leaders and heroes. Now people call them ‘weird’, because ‘normal’ is a soy-boy feminist who works for the civil service and triple masks.
Exactly – imagine a world without the likes of Swift, Kamala or the car ladies….the others wouldn’t even notice their absence.
Now imagine a world without the likes of Elon Musk and their work…..
There would be someone else to invent things.
Is redefining the “electronic payments industry” a completely great achievement insofar as it has hastened the explosion of “consumerism,” which, for example, Pier Paolo Pasolini predicted in the mid-sixties would be the worst type of fascism the world could develop (something many now deplore as “globalization”)? As for redefining “the automotive industry,” hasn’t Musk merely helped perpetuate the tunnel-visioned idea that the biggest threat from cars is their tail-pipe emissions when in fact the more serious danger from automobiles is the disintegrating tire particulate (which the heavier EVs produce more of)? And the reinvigoration of the space industry may be laudable, except to my mind the goal seems to be launching more ways to aid the electronic payment industry and information control (while incidentally failing to find a way to revolutionize lithium-powered rocket-launch techniques). For the record, I am not a fan of soy and as a man, not a boy, would never be ashamed because someone noted my sympathies for feminism (though, being a man, I would never presume to call myself a feminist). However, I will admit your use of the term “soy-boy” did somewhat revealingly remind me of the term “fan-boy.” Not that “boy” is necessarily pejorative—here in Canada, we often use it to refer to the “boys” on our hockey teams.
I, on the other hand, would call myself a feminist: women should do with their lives what they want. However what they should want is to have children and help make the world a better place.
I could swear that a lot of the young guys in my neighborhood have been shaving their legs. Panty-waisted jazz dancers.
Oy vey!!
Are you honestly saying you don’t think Musk is weird? If I was writing the next James Bond film, or Marvel superhero film, and needed a creepy villain, I’d just write in Musk as he actually is (although obviously I’d change his name so as not to get sued).
Don’t worry Marvel beat you to it. He was the role model for Stark/Iron Man.
Musk has the arrogance to think the world needs countless mini-Musks. That’s what’s scary.
Don’t worry. Quote:
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“We have identified a Y-chromosomal lineage with several unusual features. It was found in 16 populations throughout a large region of Asia, stretching from the Pacific to the Caspian Sea, and was present at high frequency: about 8 percent of the men in this region carry it, and it thus makes up about 0.5 percent of the world total (20,000,000 men!). The pattern of variation within the lineage suggested that it originated in Mongolia about 1,000 years ago. Such a rapid spread cannot have occurred by chance; it must have been a result of selection.
The lineage is carried by likely male-line descendants of Genghis Khan, and we therefore propose that it has spread by a novel form of social selection resulting from their behavior.
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Musk still has a lot of work to do.
He was called weird for offering to impregnate Taylor Swift, not for inventing stuff.
Neuralink, Boring Company, risks of AI, public debate via X/Twitter. The list is incredible.
Real people, the real world, happens to be weird.
The problem with the “progressive” class, – the college educated, “office job”, no kids crowd – is precisely that what they say, what their “views” are, is a bit like supermarket vegetables – unnatural, carefully screened and artificially cultivated, and tasteless at it’s core.
Hence, they will express views that are “correct”, they will never say “weird” things…….but they are also the worst, most bigoted, genuinely weird people around.
Real world, especially working class people, or on the other hand the likes of Musk, are weird – they say things that can be construed as “sexist” or “racist”. But they are much less likely to support third trimester abortions, allowing strange men into girls bathrooms or sports, letting in illegal immigrants, being soft on criminals. They will accept you even if your opinions and politics differ, and accept free speech.
So, who exactly is weird here?
In answer to your question: both Musk and Swift are out of the ordinary!
“So, who exactly is weird here?” Musk is. I just said that in my previous post.
Musk may be weird (as was Steve Jobs) but the fact remains that Musk is the most successful entrepreneur on the planet, and it is rumored he is about set to become the first trillionaire! The fact is that most genius’ are weird, and that would include Newton, probably the greatest mind who ever lived.
Johann Strauss was also, by all accounts, a bit of an odd-ball – a hypochondriac and an obsessive.
Best known for his waltzes and operettas, he was also a lively contributor to UnHerd’s comments section.
Not as lively as UnHerd Reader though.
Albert Einstein was probably a bit weird, but he wasn’t deeply unpleasant like Musk.
The funniest part about Musk’s offer is that all of his kids have come through IVF. AFIK, Musk is still a virgin.
Too much information….
That doesn’t mean Musk is a virgin. He could have had lots of protected sex. Or do you believe condoms keep peoples virginity intact?
Never mind the politics, that cat is adorable.
and deserves better than the talentless Swift creature as a guardian.
Swift is a smart woman. When celebs like Tom Brady were endorsing Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto fraud, she investigated it and said no thanks. Her endorsement of Harris is the same way. She looked at the positions and picked the candidate who’s more closely aligned with hers, or what she thought was best for the country.
The cats of Ohio might disagree, but she’s doing a better job than most voters.
Smart and wise are two different things. It may be smart to care so much about the LGBTQIA+ community, but it’s not wise.
You mean self serving.
“Smart” here means to get modern public approval. To be with crowd.
“Wise” here means to think about future of your children, your community, your nation.
Swifties care about her next tour, business leaders care about next quarter account, politicians about next election in 2-4 years and only parents care about 2 generations ahead. Feel the difference
She can do what she likes; she’s a billionaire.
I love the way posters on this forum seem to think having a child or not is always a personal choice. And that on the occasion that it might be, it’s a purely selfish one.
Anyway all the people I’ve seen commenting on Taylor Swift’s message seem to think all her fans are teenage girls. I think they might be somewhat wrong.
…all of her fans are teenage girls – undoubtedly in terms of their level of emotional development, at least those who fly from America to Europe to see her show
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…having a child or not is always a personal choice
Forgive me for God’s sake, dear Laura, but I have long noticed that as soon as men say anything to women other than compliments, women start whining, “You don’t understand… There are circumstances…”
You know, we understand more than you think. We know that there are circumstances. But we see how modern women, with the egoism that is always inherent in women (biologically, female egoism is justified and necessary!), prefer the most carefree and childless life, and then complain to everyone about their suffering, refusing to understand that it is a consequence of refusing to have children. Having children is the dominant instinct in a female’s life. Not sex, not the love of a male, but children – that’s the main thing for her. This is the only thing that makes her suffer and rejoice and live life to the fullest.
I am always ready to sympathize with women who do not have children due to real difficult circumstances, but we are not talking about such women here.
Such arrogance! Do you think we care whether you sympathize or not?!
Do you think I care about your opinion? I’m not an Internet influencer to collect “likes” and I hope you won’t be offended by the fact that a “like” from you won’t make me happy, but rather will offend me
I guess you are female, since you seem very sure about what they feel. Also, once more, have you heard about nuns?
Yes, I have heard about this and I think that denying your human nature is not the best idea, although circumstances may vary.
I have never heard that all women should become nuns, but I hear all the time that a career is more important for a woman than children.
Do you feel the difference?
“…egoism that is always inherent in women.” Men, by contrast, are devoid of ego.
Exactly. Her fans chose all the demographics incuding the young royals.
They were teenage girls a decade ago, but they’re twenty-somethings now.
Childless cat people need to understand the constraints. If they want to eat past a certain point they need to support society having children. It’s not rocket science. And yes Swift, as far as I know, is a childless cat person.
I suppose they could eat the cats like the immigrants apparently do.
Exactly, cats are just a clump of cells anyway, just like 34 week old “foetuses”.
Right. Because…childless cat people eat children?
Precluding habitat is the same thing as eating them so you do have a point.
Yes, that was what she said.
The weirdest thing is Guardian journalists thinking hugging someone means endorsing all of their political opinions.
It’s called being ‘shallow, divisive & tribal’. All good reasons not to subscribe to The Guardian.
Yes – but then Guardian journalists think a man can become a woman and that you can have anything you want if the government prints enough pound notes to pay for it.
When will Taylor create her “Rust Belt” album?
Vance set up the lines for next-wave conservative vs liberal cultural contestation but Trump is of the wrong generation to grasp it:
Republican female voters tend to be older and Christian, frequently home-makers or retired one. The cultural opposition are female college graduates who put off marriage and family, sometimes perpetually; since this groups also push the woke values in education and corporations, they are the beating heart of the modern Democratic Party.
Miss Swift is an icon of the female Democrat voter favouring the late-term abortion: 34, childless and unmarried, trumpetting modern US corporate and progressive values.
Miss Swift is an icon of the female Democrat voter favouring the late-term abortion: 34, childless and unmarried, trumpetting modern US corporate and progressive values.
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Excellent. You have listed everything a nation needs to commit suicide.
The author ends with, “Popstars have learned the power of the big tent”.!?! Not if Swift declared her allegiance to a particular candidate. This essay is inconsistent to say the least.
John & Yoko waiting for the maid to make the bed so they can continue protesting against the system, 1969
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https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/9kyoyo/john_yoko_waiting_for_the_maid_to_make_the_bed_so/
The “power” of her politics. What exactly is this “power”? This:
”When she shared a link to a voter registration site in 2023, there were 35,252 new registrations that day; notably, this included a 115% increase in 18-year-olds, who are more likely to vote Democrat.”
Good luck with the Taylor Swift fantasy.
This is the level of political discussion today.
Yes, and you have had to point it out to everyone. As I argue in another string, we now have two worlds, the Real World and the Dream World and, as you say, politics seems to be moving towards the latter. It is all about responsibility and trying to evade it.
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It convinced me!
Find me a person of voting age whose mind has been made up by Taylor Swift. Come on. Produce this creature.
Thanks to Donald Trump, I now yearn to travel to Guangdong, Canton as was, and sample the very high end dragon-tiger-phoenix soup, which is in fact made with snake, cat and chicken.
“Maybe it’s time to stop putting people into baskets.”
Yes. Please!!
Swift has shown time and again that she makes the wrong choice when it comes to relationships and that she never learns. Announcement of the next breakup is expected to arrive before the end of this month. Why should people trust her opinion about Kamala then?
Taylor Swift doesn’t make the “wrong choice” when it comes to relationships. She has relationships, breaks up, writes songs about the breakup, and makes billions.
If Harris wins, Swift had better keep a close eye on her cats.
So good you had to say it twice?
Nope.
That was worth saying twice.
If Harris wins, Swift had better keep a close eye on her cats. The Haitians might eat them.
Why did you choose to subscribe to unherd, for god’s sake.
Micro-aggression? Feel unsafe? My condolences…
And if Swift has kids she will need to be very careful or Harris, and her ilk, will kidnap and mutilate them when they are struggling with their sexuality or growing up.
when the article begins by taking the Vance comment grossly out of context, there is little point in reading the rest of the article, so apologies if I miss something. Swift and Dems in general do not care about alienating Repubs. She’s not Michael Jordan, who realized that people of ALL political strips buy sneakers. She’s simply the celebrity version of what leftist politics has become – an endless parade of scapegoating the other side in rather grotesque terms.
From bitter clingers to deplorables to the dregs of society, THAT is how Dems view half the country. These are the same people who cheered as people lost their jobs for refusing to take those horrid jabs whose legacy will continue creating health issues for years. If people truly want to experience a Harris administration that will take the existing issues that are plainly evident and magnify them, then I truly they get everything they asked for.
“No wonder they cling to their guns and Bibles” said Obama with, admittedly patronizing, empathy.
If karma is a real thing then one would think Taylor would be among the first to have a billion or two in “unrealized gains,” confiscated by her government.
I don’t really care what the topic of the article is, I have a burning question.
When is Unherd going to fix their crappy comments section!??? It’s the worst, most clunky, user unfriendly comments section I’ve ever used. Even hitting Like is annoying as it doesn’t respond. I did reach out and they told me they’re working on it but they verify you every time for “Security” purposes. Are others experiencing this?
Please do something Unherd!!
I tried to hit Like, but it didn’t respond.
How very brave of a now billlionaire entertainer to put her future earnings on the line by alienating the people who spend their hard earned money on her product. Perhaps when those deplorables see their taxes skyrocket, their streets become more dangerous after dark and the cost of basic necessities rise, they might reconsider and vote for sanity vs. the single issue of killing their unborn children.
I don’t think Ms Swift is going to have any trouble paying her rent in future, no matter what she does.
I’ll be honest. This article left a depressing impression on me.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CXj0AGuh4c
On a side note, a stat I would like to see is the CO2 per childless cat person. Come to think of it, maybe a different accounting of climate change is in order. CO2 per child.
That is a good point. I myself have no children, but drive a V8 car, and take four overseas holidays a year. The Green Left never thank me for pointing out that their children mean that their CO2 emissions are far higher than mine.
Yours would be infinite though.
I used to have a t-shirt that said “My carbon footprint is bigger than yours”. It proved to be surprisingly controversial….
childless by choice dog lady voting for Trump
Big dogs or small dogs?
I’m actually surprised at how testily the description ‘childless cat lady’ has been taken. I thought it was a pretty mild, throw-away line, particularly as I’ve known women describe themselves as ‘cat ladies’ in a very self-deprecating way. But it’s like it hit a nerve among a particular cohort of women. Understanding why would be more interesting…
Comical misunderstanding of what is going on here! JD Vance couldn’t hit a nerve if his life depended on it – he is being mocked for his inanity. Entirely appropriate that he said it to Tucker Carlson.
The only ones testy about it are Vance and the sinking campaign that he is part of!
Could it be because describing oneself as a “cat lady” is a world away from being described as one by an unpleasant, entitled right-winger with a stupid beard?
Everyone knew what JDVance really meant.
Swift is the perfect icon for far too many ypung western women these days. Shallow, materialistic, arrogant, and as dumb as a second coat of paint.
“Swift is the perfect icon for far too many ypung western women these days”
The unintentional irony is absolutely delicious! How long til David the dumbo tries to fix this? I really doubt that Swift or her fans care much about what grumpy old fools like him think of them!
But she’s not. The term obviously refers to those beyond child bearing age, usually single – it’s an insult to people who NEVER had children, not to women who own a certain pet! Elon Musk’s reply, though disgusting and rude, points that out. Taylor Swift is still fertile. She’s in a high profile relationship. She may yet have children. She can post whatever she wants but the attempt to critique and criticise JD Vance’s point was ineffective and falls flat. One could say, impotent.
70 years on, I would have thought we would a almost complete understanding of CO2 and climate change by now, how it works to effect climate change. The sad thing is that we are no further ahead than when it was first posited. This makes me doubt whether man-made climate change really exists at all.
The technical details are accurate. But the expected affects 40 years from now is in question. A warming world may provide more benefit than expected. Really just being used to buy votes in metro jurisdictions where they are not cognizant of their foot print and don’t think their standard of living is based on resources.
Let the disease run its course. The survivors will be stronger. The future belongs to those who will be there for it, i.e. the fertile and the strong. TS is a vapor.
There is a difference though.
The people referred to as “deplorable” in 2016, are the class of people who built America and it’s industry, fought WW2….
“Childless cat lady” on the other hand, is a term that’s staggeringly accurate, and the key thing here is not the lack of children – it’s the implied lack of any responsibility or hardship in their lives. Soft, easy degrees, soft jobs, never take financial responsibility for a family or kids, life has always been on “easy” mode.
And that’s what this article also misses – their idols and leaders are a perfect reflection of themselves. A presidential candidate who, well, we know how she got her “start”, got VP despite crashing and burning at the debates, candidate despite a horrible track record as VP in every way – even the debate was on “easy” for her as well saw.
And that’s why Swift is the perfect icon for their class, whether she comes out openly or not. Average singer whose repertoire of songs is based on string of bad relationship choices, never had to struggle or do anything worthwhile, who else really?
Excellent points relating to Kamala Harris. By contrast, Donald Trump was an orphan tyke who struggled his way up from the streets, often with an empty belly, armed only with his good humour, modesty and kindness.
Trump, for all his obvious and admittedly major flaws, isn’t a lifelong DEI appointee like Kamala.
And the implied suggestion that Trump got everything on a plate….that’s a big problem of having a large class of “Swiftie progressive” people who have never run a business, never taken any responsibility, never taken any risks or did anything worthwhile….. no clue, no insight into the life and struggles of someone in the real world, whether Donald Trump or a small store owner or cab driver.
Right, Trump is not at all a DEI appointee, because that could never happen to an Anglo-Saxon male. Trump is simply the favored son of a wealthy, grasping real estate baron and would have trouble finding the milk and eggs in an ordinary grocery.
Is that how he managed to build a multi-billion dollar empire, by lacking the ability to find grocery items? Yes, Trump’s father did well. The son then took the business to another level. Swift, meanwhile, was not exactly a child of poverty.
Swift got wealthy by being artistic and bringing pleasure to millions of people all over the world. She’s well-liked, doesn’t flaunt her wealth and is kind to others. No one can really find fault with her as hard as they may try. The same can not be said of Trump.
You sound like most Trump haters, never bother to properly research your biases, simply spew the left wing rhetoric you’re fed.
That’s how left wing people vote, and why we’re in the black hole we’re in, explains a lot.
When he was shot, he shouted “Fight, fight, fight”.
Can you or any of your male friends do that?
Do what? Shout “fight, fight”?
Cheap argument
When had Donal Trump ever struggled?
Read the 40 years of news reports: plenty. Look at the struggle of being vilified and slandered and dépersonnalisation he has been targeted with for over 8 years. And the murder attempt just a few weeks ago. Biden folded like the empty suit he is after 1 bad debate. Kamala literally cut and pastes “her” policies from the Biden website. Trump, imperfections acknowledged, has done more responsible things throughout his life than any other figure in public life. And his interviews from the 1980s and 90s are remarkably consistent with his statements today. Neither Biden or Kamaala can honestly say that.
Exactly. Or suffered?
I have read a few books about him, and I suspect that growing up in Fred Trump’s household wouldn’t have been a bed of roses.
Non-whites are not by necessity DEI appointees. Or do you think every non-white person is so stupid and untalented that they only can get jobs through DEI?
Unfortunately the modern “real world” doesn’t just consist of taxi drivers and small business owners, much as I admire them
Try better next time
Trump’s never professed to being anything but a rich kid. Regardless of his wealth he’s a hard worker, built an empire and became US president against all the odds stacked against him. He’s also a generous giver, many people have stories to tell of his kindness. Survived a bullet to the head, too. You wouldn’t know that though, probably never bother to find out either.
Tell me, how does that compare with Harris?
Trump was given a million dollars from his dad. Harris on the other hand held public office for over 20 years, chosen by voters for each of her jobs.
It’s not exactly hard work to become a billionaire. Hard work is done by the people who physically built Trump Tower.
And he didn’t pay them—plumbers, electricians, tile workers—all small businesses.
I can’t work out whether you are being serious or not.
Cheer up Martin..!
I am having a great time! I am after all childless (although unfortunately some immigrants ate my cat)!
Interesting story about Trump:
Years ago I was in construction; mostly renovations, sometimes in rental apartments. I worked a few times for tenants of Trump owned buildings. They all said that the buildings were very well run, the staff was friendly and helpful, and they didn’t mind at all that he was on the cover of the Post every other day. A good landlord was hard to find in Brooklyn.
I think the only response to that is “Lol”!! Good to have a chuckle!
I like Taylor Swift, I dont care about her politics and I agree with JD Vance that a whole generation of people who dont want kids but who are shouting about the future are an inherent paradox. The phrase caused a massive fuss not because of its condescension to the working classes who built America, its industry and fought its wars (as you’re right to point out), its because it exposes a deeply jarring psychological flaw in screaming about climate change but not caring enough about the future to actually have children. Its because it smacks so hard that the Dems have tried to weaponise it.
I agree with you, though not having children and caring about climate change could suggest caring about the children of others.
Well obviously but that doesnt feel very coherent or thoughtful does it? Breaking it down makes it sound absurd. ‘I care so much about the future of humanity that i am a social justice and eco warrior yet the future of humanity is not important enough for me to invest in it personally’. You can posit what you did but having thought about that, I ended up saying to myself ‘no, JD Vance is spot on’.
Seems fairly coherent to me. I don’t support climate change, but because someone doesn’t have children doesn’t mean they have no concern for the children of others. The way you break it down is absurd.
I used to be a bit of a tree hugger, I definitely felt that having children was morally wrong, the moral offense being proportional to the number of children one produced. I think it’s unlikely that many of the current eco-warriors are motivated to act on behalf of children.
Exactly. Completely illogical.
I don’t think you thought it through. People don’t have children as a civic duty they have them because they want them, because they think it will bring them happiness they don’t have without them. that the children will give them the love they never had. They don’t care what kind of a world they’re bringing the children into. It’s a selfish act, not an unselfish one.
“they think it will bring them happiness they don’t have without them. that the children will give them the love they never had.”
You’re right about people not having children as a civic duty, but the rest, just doesn’t make sense. I don’t know how you’ve come to this conclusion. So all parents (a huge number of people) were never loved and yet they’re able to give love to their children and the children of others.
I have thought it through because unlike you and Brett here, i am a parent and understand what it means to be a parent and why i became one, what it means to me and how it frames the way i look at the future. For example, being parent makes you naturally more conservative because how do you nurture a child to succeed and be happy in the complex structures and institutions of the modern world if we are tearing them down and reforming them? Your instinct, like the instinct in your genes to proliferate, is to conserve a known model within broad parameters so that you can guide them towards a future with some certainty in it.
You can logically posit that caring about the environment is an altruistic concern for the welfare of the offspring of others. There is nothing illogical about that in principle. There is also absolutely no evidence that the young have ever been motivated in such a way ever in the history of humanity. Old philantrophists, with a view on their death bed maybe. No, the most plausible hypothesis is virtue signalling incoherence.
I don’t know why you assume I’m not a parent.
My apologies, there was no need for me to say that.
Yes, the absence of children is not absence of caring. And there are a whole lot of reasons that young adults are having fewer children in America (and elsewhere). It’s complicated; there’s no simple answer.
The principal reason is that feminism has removed any incentive for attractive men to be monogamous and women don’t want the relatively unattractive ones. Single parenthood is the only option that remains. And most middle class women don’t want that either.
Are you saying that other people’s children should take care of these childless, selfish women when they become evil old women?
Really? Did you really write that? Don’t you realize what it says about you?
Yes, I do. I’m not sure you do. Childlessness never makes a woman smarter or wiser.
Tell that to Hildegard of Bingen or Theresa of Avila.
I can say this to anyone because I said “smarter” instead of “smart”, “wiser” instead of “wise”.
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Please read the comments more carefully next time.
What hasn’t been made clear about the falling rate of children, the women not having them, is whether it might also be the men that don’t want children. In that case it’s over for the women.
“it might also be the men that don’t want children. ”
Very likely. With the way divorce and child custody works….
What about childless selfish men? Or nuns?
Childless selfish men never were a problem because males are always in excess
Still no answer about nuns.
That said, the only childless cat lady I know, votes Democrat and is a single issue voter – her Social Security check.
You mean you only know one and you’re basing your judgment on that?
Please explain how?
How what?
“Caring about climate change” is like csring about tea laves or entrails.
It is possible to care about climate change and not be selfish enough to have children, since we are already overpopulated which is the cause of climate change in the first place.
By what measure are we ‘overpopulated’? The vast, vast majority of the 9 billion people alive today are better fed and housed and in better health than most of the 1 billion people alive a century ago.
Having children will make climate change worse. There is no contradiction.
This is silly and unserious. Children do not contribute to climate change. CO2 does. Furthermore, we have unlimited, emission free energy at our fingertips, yet those same people telling you to feel scared about the future are unwilling to support nuclear energy. And on top of that, people like Taylor Swift create more emissions than an army of her fans.
Children are people. In order to feed the world’s 9 billion people we need food and energy. In the process of providing that CO2 is created.
If you care so much about Global Warming, why haven’t you committed suicide or moved to Africa and started living like they do there? You know, I’m always amazed by such extreme hypocrisy. “Change your life” for others, I’m the other deal. Greta Thunberg spent more CO2 in her 21 years than few ordinary people during their whole lives. Do you know how much it cost to ship her from Europe to America on a carbon fiber yacht with an escort vessel? The yacht was build especially for her
What utter nonsense. Not having children in the ‘first world’ will simply cede the planet to those countries with fewer scruples about the environment.
I’m far from being an eco-warrior, but believe intelligent solutions are required, not withdrawal from the fray by selfish adults.
Your definition of selfish is absurd.
That’s just so cynical. We need new generations to become educated enough to solve the world’s problems.
D.R. One of the most unhinged comments yet.
No it’s not.
We have population collapse. How is it that you don’t know this?
Exactly.
Worse in what way? You can just as easily argue that a warmer climate will be beneficial. Climate change as a catastrophe is a political narrative promoted by people who want more elite control. It has little to do with what’s good for the rest of us.
Oh please, the phrase wasn’t even about the voters, it was about Trump’s team and personal handlers, people like Stephen Miller
There will be enough women giving birth to children they don’t want, because they can’t get an abortion, to satisfy you, old chap.