In a world where news is mostly spread digitally, it’s almost impossible not to be on social media and know what’s going on in the world.
However, every time I open social media, I feel like I am suffocating. There’s so much bad in the world that we just choose to ignore it. It’s a mentality that if it doesn’t hurt me or involve me, why should I care? I hate that I live in a world of bystanders.
I promise you, the idea of being a mother has been drilled into me before. I’ve been told that once I am a mother, I will find my purpose. But why can’t my purpose be about me? Is it too selfish to want to accomplish something in my life with or without kids?
I understand that life is a beautiful thing and we’re all brought into this world, but at the end of the day, people will still have kids, so why does it matter so much if I am a parent or not?
Raising kids isn’t for everyone, and it most definitely isn’t my purpose in life. We’ve just been poisoned so much by our society’s sexist beliefs that we’ve forgotten to be human.
I’ve always told myself that I would adopt or foster, once I was in a position to take care of kids. The truth is, I have a lot of stuff to figure out, and I also have a lot of things to heal from. The last thing I would want is to bring a child into a world that’s dying.
I already have so much anxiety about the future because of the state of the world right now. We’ve done irreversible things to our planet and its ecosystem. Not to mention, I’m not even sure how I will afford to live on my own, even with a degree. So, how is it going to be for our future generations?
To me, adopting seems like the only logical choice. Kids in the adoption and foster system deserve as much of a chance as everyone else. It’s true, it’s an expensive process, and I want you to know I am not shaming anyone who wants to be a biological mother. I couldn’t care less if the child I am raising has my DNA, I’m still going to love and care for them regardless.
I am aware that the birth rate is important; we need enough people to come in and work when our older generations retire in order to keep the economy going. However, we also need to keep in mind that our planet is already overpopulated, and with all the new advances in AI, we’ve replaced jobs. I don’t say this because I don’t embrace technology; I think it’s useful, but AI isn’t. AI is problematic and damaging to our environment. The job market is already bad as it is. If we need more people, and everyone is hiring, how come nobody actually hires?
To me, it just doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. If anything, a declining birth rate could be more beneficial to our society. The selfish choice isn’t not wanting kids, it’s only caring about the money our people produce rather than the people behind the money.
I don’t want to bring life into a world we’ve failed in; it just doesn’t seem fair. If the generations before me really cared so much about kids, they should’ve listened and taken better care of our planet.