Responsibility

2006 Time Magazine Cover

I am amused by the popular euphemism, "start a family". It was used moments ago in a radio story I heard. "Start a family" in light of the divorce statistics and other evidence of relationship dysfunction can be compared to "get a puppy". Unfortunately, most humans like puppies better than grown dogs as they like babies better than independent human adults.

 

Each birth is the inception of an independent human life. It is not responsible to that human life to envision it as a means gratify the needs of the parents. This is the difference between satisfying the breeding urge by an animal without a frontal lobe and conscious human reproduction in developed society. Approximately half the births in the U.S. annually are considered "accidental" by the birth mothers. This shows both sexual ignorance and irresponsible reproduction by many women in this relatively developed society.

 

Much is written and shouted about female reproductive rights. Fertility promotion is a major industry in developed nations, hypnotized by the insane basis of capitalism's "health" on population expansion. What about reproductive responsibility? The old quality-vs.-quantity issue. Capitalism always goes for quantity over quality.

 

A short conversation with a social worker involved with a child welfare system in any country will educate the unaware on the vast lack of reproductive responsibility in most human societies. Children are neglected and abused in all socioeconomic groups in all societies. Among the poor, children suffer inevitably from ignorance. In the U.S., childhood obesity is one widely visible symptom. Overfeeding a child a poor diet is as much a form of neglect as starving a child from a perspective of long-range health.

 

The  public high school graduation rate in Boston, "Athens of America", in 2012 was 65.9%. The other 34.1% are evidence of reproductive irresponsibility in a society which offers no hope for those who have less than a high school education. Of those 65.9% who graduated, only 15% went on to a college or vocational education. Therefore, That means about 90% of the graduates of the Boston Public Schools will enter young adulthood with substandard preparation for the current job market in America. Is this evidence of responsible family-starting in human society?