First of all, I wanna explain what antinatalism is for those who don't know. Antinatalism is belief that it is immoral to bring children to this world. I find myself agreeing with the notion again and again. So I thought I might write a little bit about it and why I am one.
I wanna preface it all by saying that all of our thoughts and opinions are subject to change, so my current antinatalism can change into something different in the future. But that is not to say I don't agree with the notion. I agree with it pretty strongly, much more strongly than I believe in some other things. However, I also see that all of who we are is the product of our conditions so if my conditions change significantly, my ideas might change. It might seem like an easy escape tunnel, "Oh I think but not so sure", but it is not really. Infact, even though I don't have very many strong beliefs and opinions in life, this is one of the strong ones. Anyways, all I am saying is, I think having children is wrong but there is a slight chance that I might change my opinion on that in distant future. So read everything here with that in mind. If you have a children, I am not claiming you are a satan or something, I am just saying what you are doing, what you did rather, is wrong.
One thing that I believe even more strongly that antinatalism is the following sentence: "Life is suffering". This idea is not anything new, a lot of people that came before me already realized that life is full of agony and suffering. To be clear, I am not suffering mentally or physically at this very moment, however you never know, everything can change in an instant. So the idea stays, life sucks, if it does not suck for you currently, just wait or look around for those who are less fortunate. If you think that life is suffering, like I do, then it would be natural to come into the conclusion that making more of it is going to cause more suffering. Then, since immoral action is, by definition, an action that causes suffering on other human beings, you could say that bringing about more life is immoral. Now my whole argument collapses if you don't follow from the premise that is "Life is suffering" or if you agree with the premise but with some caveats, such as "Life is suffering but it is worth it" or "Life is suffering but suffering is good for you". So premise, "Life is suffering and suffering is bad" has to be there for you to come to the conclusion of antinatalism. I see a lot of people that are complaining about how life sucks or how hard it is if you are poor/fortuneless, but ironically, those people keep having more and more children. Well then, the question pops into my mind: "Why are you bringing children into something that sucks?". It seems awfully instinctual, specifically instinct of reproduction is in play. It gets a little old after a while, you know. It would be nicer if you acted according to your beliefs or at least complain a little less about life. Because then we would think "Ok, life sucks but this person seems resilient so maybe they think life is worth it". So, in the end, your decision to have children would seem consistent with your inner world. I mean don't get me wrong, I would still say what you are doing is wrong, because I personally think life is suffering still, but hey, at least your beliefs and your actions are consistent. That counts for something, I guess. I would personally congratulate you and tell you "You are consistent". This is the least I can do. Nah, I am just joking around. I mean, you won't get anything just because you might be more consistent than other people, just the thought that "I am consistent" in your mind. But that thought might make you feel justified at your actions, which might be relief in struggling times. Other than that, pretty much everything is the same. Anyways, My first reason for why I am an antinatalist is the fact that I think life is suffering, it is the bad kind of suffering that gives nothing and takes everything, therefore it is mainly misery, sure there are some good moments, but on average it is gonna end up being a lot more suffering than good. That is what I believe. Therefore making more life would be a bad thing from your point of view as well, if you think any similar to mine. Otherwise you would be inconsistent, which is punishable by death. Jk, there goes the whole humanity.
In this paragraph, I wanna explain a little bit about why am I still alive thinking that "Life is misery". Because I would have to kill myself if I actually thought that life is misery. That would be the only logical or ethical action to take, that is ending something that causes suffering. Or even more scarily, I would have to end every single other life than mine if I "actually" believed life being suffering. I have my answers to those questions, it might not convince some of you but here it goes. First and foremost, just because I am suffering, that does not mean other people are suffering. I mean they will suffer one day or the other but maybe their life is more positive experience than negative, who knows? I can't measure their net experience. I still believe my beliefs but maybe they are wrong, I don't claim to be know-it-all. Also, some people have great will to live, despire all the sturggles, so they will hold on to life since it is the only thing they have. They can have their life as far as I am concerned. They can have their children too, if they think life is good or it is worth it or whatever, just keep them away from me. I mean they don't stay away but whatever, it is what it is. So the just kill everybody if you think life is bad argument is a little too reductive for my taste. I can only speak for myself when I say I feel net negative but other people I can't know. Now let me write a little bit about my own life. Why am I not killing myself? Well I think about it from time to time, especially when dealing with certain bad things. However I could not get myself to do it yet. My instinct to live prevailed over my beliefs so far. I don't know how long will my instincts will carry me around, but I was not able to kill myself. So if you wanna have your gotcha moment "Ha, see you don't really believe life is suffering", go ahead, but for me, it is all instinct, I don't have deep philosophy that keep me going as far as I am concerned.
In the end, main reason why I am antinatalist is because I believe life is agony. Most life will be agony but some life will be little bit better than others, so it is hard to say which life is which, but at least mine is not that joyful. So I might be projecting when I say mine is suffering therefore most life should be suffering if we are any similar, maybe I am. Anyways I ask you to be consistent if you believe the suffering part and bear your burden and your burden only. Or at the very least, don't have children then complain to them about how hard life is. And I implore you, even if are inconsistent, which is ok, don't read this writing then get mad at your children because it made you feel a certain way. This is the least you can do. I mean I can't really judge you for having children, I am judging you but it is inside of my head, but if you are treating your children a certain way or abusing them, then you are making society wide issue. Just don't, otherwise society might interfere, understandably...
