Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!cca!charlie
From: charlie@cca.UUCP (Charlie Kaufman)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Children
Message-ID: <5684@cca.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 9-Sep-83 12:21:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: cca.5684
Posted: Fri Sep  9 12:21:22 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 9-Sep-83 19:23:08 EDT
Lines: 28


	What's needed is simply:

	1. The recognition by all that child nurturing is the highest
	achievment of a man's or woman's life, ...

A survey: Do people agree with this?

I do not.  In an overpopulated world, adding another person is doing no
great service unless you happen to possess some unusual and valuable
genes.  If you choose to have children, effort spent developing them
into responsible members of society is certainly socially as well as
privately beneficial, but must be weighed against efforts spent on
alternate socially beneficial projects.

I'm sure child nurturing is the highest achievement in many people's
lives.  And I do not dispute the desirability of the business community
displaying more flexability in helping employees reach their conflicting
life goals.  What I fear is encouraging people to have children which
neither they nor the world need out of some perverse sense of duty.

                          --Charlie Kaufman
                            charlie@cca
                            ...decvax!cca!charlie

p.s. I am reluctant to post this to net.women, since it reinforces
undesirable stereotypes, but this is where the issue came up and
net.philosophy seems to be into more abstract issues.