A short excerpt from a YouTube video in which Jim Penman critiques the common rationalization that not having children 'saves the planet.' He argues that people who forego parenthood often consume conspicuously (frequent flying, expensive cars, large houses, many consumables) and mistake that consumption for environmental virtue—calling it a selfish rationalization rather than genuine environmental saving.
People say it's the reason, but I think it's a rationalization. It's like somebody says, oh, look, I'm such a, you know, a noble citizen of the world. I'm so concerned about it that, you know, I'll spend my money on flying overseas trips and buying an ultra expensive car and a giant house and all the consumables in the world because I'm saving the planet by not having kids. Well, you're not saving the planet. You're just spending money in a different way, in a very selfish way, in my point of view, and enjoying yourself and thinking that you're virtuous.
Rising mental illness and falling birth rates have the same cause, it is this.....
