Discussion Procreation - The Ugly Truth Behind the Veneer

[Daxter_87]

Procreation - The Ugly Truth Behind the Veneer is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 This essay may be reproduced in whole or in part in any format without permission from the author, provided the original source is cited, it is not for profit, and the text remains unchanged.

WARNING
The following essay discusses sensitive and controversial topics, such as anti-natalism, animal cruelty, sexual violence, illness, suicide, accidents, and death. It also contains language and/or images that some people may find offensive and/or disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.
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Procreation - The Ugly Truth Behind the Veneer​

If the majority of the population engages in and encourages a certain behaviour, is it automatically ethical? Since when has popular opinion been synonymous with truth or morality? We only have to look at history to see that humanity has partaken in abhorrent practices from the beginning; slavery, without going any further, is still in force in a good part of the world. Similarly, people think that having children is a personal and respectable choice, and they even praise and congratulate those who do. However, far from being noble, reproducing means imposing a life of pain and danger. In a word, the charade has been exposed - procreation is a cruel, cold-hearted act.

First of all, it is worth mentioning a self-evident but overlooked fact - life is an imposition. No one agrees to be born, but rather parents make that choice for their children; indeed, the unborn have never begged to come into existence. Take Inmendham, philosopher and founder of efilism, who said the following:



Inmendham essentially argues that, when you act selfishly and involve other people who are not happy about it, you are imposing your will on them. A prime example of this is rape, which consists of using another person as a disposable object to satisfy your sexual desires, regardless of whether you scar the victim for life. It is curious, however, how society can be so concerned about consent in some instances, such as the one above, while blatantly ignoring it in others, most notably reproduction. Like it or not, giving birth is no more consensual than committing a crime.

Moreover, as with all wrongdoing, not only do we have no say in our conception, but the consequences are often fatal. In other words, it is not just a question of lack of consent - it is also a question of the pain inherent in existence. Consider, for example, that no matter who you are or where you live, you will eventually experience the process of dying, usually after decades of aging and illness - either physical, mental, or a torturous combination of the two. Needless to say, this is far from a pleasant journey - death by natural causes is agonising; accidents, brutal and gruesome; and suicide, risky and sloppy due to the limited methods available. Not to mention that this is only one of the many hardships that await anyone who lives; in fact, the list of misfortunes is so long that it would take another essay to cover it. Life and suffering are inextricably linked, so much so that the former cannot exist without the latter, and vice versa. It follows that having children is tantamount to perpetuating misery, misery that would not otherwise be possible.

Despite all this, many people reply that by procreating we do not condemn the next generation to a tragic, harsh fate, for happiness is also a possibility. They argue that individuals enjoy pleasures such as eating good food, having sex, travelling, or consuming culture. Who, then, are these bad grapes, these anti-natalists, who deny them their hedonistic fun? The answer is that their party is exorbitantly expensive, and the payment is bloodshed. In the words of Inmendham:



For every successful, wealthy entrepreneur, millions live in poverty and squalor; for every tasty beef steak, many animals must be ruthlessly slaughtered; for every recovery, countless patients relapse back to square one. In the face of such a disproportionate exchange, to say that the bliss of the privileged few proves nothing is an understatement. It is even insulting, one might say, to suggest that ecstasy, trivial and fleeting by nature, compensates for torment, far greater in duration, intensity, and frequency. Joy, therefore, is nowhere near enough evidence to support the case for natalism.

All in all, reproduction may be as common as breathing, but that does not make it any less atrocious; the problem is that unbridled optimism has so clouded our judgement that we cannot see it for what it is. There is little difference between having babies and kidnapping them, since both are non-consensual and expose them to a catastrophe that will befall them sooner or later, one way or another. Besides, a tray of chocolate-covered strawberry cookies will not heal the deepest wounds of being alive. You may now see childbirth differently - contrary to the rosy and idyllic picture painted by the media, begetting only adds new and more agony to a vast, unfathomable ocean of it.

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References​

graytaich0. (2012, May 1). The Price.
graytaich0. (2013, June 4). Imposing.

 

[sserafim]

I hate the fact that I was born into this absurd world without my consent! I hate the fact that life was imposed onto me and I'm expected to be "grateful" for it. Life isn't a "gift", it's a gift that I never even wanted to receive in the first place. It's more of a curse.

 

[FuneralCry]

And also there is the fact that suicide is purposely made as difficult as possible for people despite the reality that they were so tragically burdened with the ability to suffer endlessly.

Humans truly are the worst species with how they force their harmful delusions onto other people by procreating and trying to make existence into a prison where one cannot easily escape on their own terms, it's evil to me.
I've never wanted anything to do with the ultimate cause of all suffering which is existence itself. Procreation is a crime and only never existing is perfection.