The...Ascent of Man?
credit: http://cyemae.wordpress.com/evolution-of-man/
Society is supposed to change, adapt, and advance. Due to the fact that we are no longer evolving through Darwin's mechanism of 'survival of the fittest', our advancement comes from the changing environment around us. The human race increases it's collective intelligence in leaps and bounds, although some may argue that it is, at the moment, stagnatory (could be the subject of an entire post, which I will never write :)). Specifically, I want to focus on the effect of education on childbirth.
Education has always been the 'cure' for attitudes and viewpoints that society believes is abhorrent or wrong. Examples include homosexuality, feminism, drug addiction and violence. It is also used as a marker for development in a country. That is, those countries with a higher rate of graduating children/teenagers/adults are likely to be more developed, more wealthy, and more prosperous. A chilling factor in today's society is that governments place education lower on the list than businesses [citation needed], which, while not necessarily wrong, is an alarming development. Recently, the Victorian Government has cut TAFE funding, recently imposed a fee (SSAF) on university students, and decreased the HECS percentage discount. Surely educating the next generation to make sure they can become functioning, contributing adults in our society is as important as propping up the current generation!
As people enter the world of adulthood, or even while they are teenagers, they see the world in a different, more realistic light. Life is shit. Families break apart, violence is (apparently) around every street corner, cancer kills, new and more deadly diseases crop up every year, natural disasters - the list goes on and on. We can even see today the state of turmoil that is occurring. The Middle East is revolting against their dictators (which, although is a good thing, has led to atrocities such as those committed in Syria and Libya). America slumped in the recent GFC. China has numerous human rights issues. The European Union does not look like it is in the greatest health.
And so people realise what a fucked up world we live in.
"SIR, WE HAVE INCOMING GENERALISATIONS"
The more rational among us see that the crushing cost of raising a child that is not only financial will also bring about gloomy times for their children. The world is getting warmer, the seas are going to rise, the global debt is becoming more and more colossal, and it seems like there is no way it could better. So many will decide not to have any kids at all.
And yet, in society there are so many stupid decisions, or dole-bludgers who have children just for the bonus they get from Centrelink. How does that reflect on our society? More and more well-educated people are having less children, and more and more less-well-educated people are having more children for the wrong reasons.
What happens to the world then!?
[NB: I realise how this sounds, so I decided to stop generalising here, but I hope some people get the message? I had to generalize for argument's sake. I do realise that there are children who come from these types of backgrounds who are wonderful people, so you don't have to take this personally or as an attack of any kind] /politicalcorrectness
credit: frankproject.net
The only solution I see (which is my own belief, however naïve it may be) is for us to make the best effort we can to have children, to see them grow up and to make sure we're the best parents possible. I'm not going to guarantee that's going to be the case for me. But to see people around me who have gone through that, survived, and are more awesome than I am (and that's a pretty high bar :D) makes me think that...
...well, they'll be fine, right?
/rant
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