My Responses on MSN's Discussions of Big Families

http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?boardid=479&threadid=362896
My Comment:

I do not own an RV, boat, or other recreational toys. I don't have expensive pets or expensive hobbies. I choose to raise beautiful happy children. Our discretionary income goes to what we love to do - spend time with our children. We have a 30 year old dentist, a college senior who will go to law school, one in jr. high, one in elementary school, a 5 year old, and a 22 month old. We live on a modest income. Our families and friends provide a huge network of love and guidance to our children. In 20 years, I will be surrounded by 6 wonderful adults, their spouses, and our grandchildren. Others will have more pets, jewels, RV's and boats. Make your choice but understand that I've already helped one neighbor, elderly and without children navigate a very cold and cruel world. She had money and a home but no one to help with the day to day indignities heaped upon the elderly. I "adopted" her and made sure she had a "daughter" she could count on until she passed away. Understand that when you choose not to have children, you choose a very hard life. When you choose to only have one or two children, you burden them in ways you can't even comprehend unless you've been the caretaker of elderly parents. I'm one of six and as my mother has faced numerous health crisis's. Mom lives with me and my siblings have helped me take care of her beautifully. My mother made a choice to have 6 kids. I made the choice to have 6 kids. You choose the future when you choose to raise a child. I'd like to see your beloved pet, jewelry, or RV care for you in bed, help you to the bathroom, aid you in the shower, get you to your doctors appointments, and hold your hand when you're scared! I also argue that your carbon footprint is based on the life you live. We Americans live a very wasteful pollution filled life compared to most of the world. Living green doesn't mean fewer children, it means smarter choices.

My response to some idiot who suggest we adopt the communist Chinese policy of one child:

Message #1188 - 06/13/08 01:52 PM
ASAP you need to read the book "Bare Branches: The Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male Population" by Valerie M. Hudson (Author), Andrea M. den Boer (Author) "Biologists, sociologists, and anthropologists have long assumed that scarcity, whether natural or man-made, is the chief catalyst for both social competition and social conflict..."