Maximum Babies.
Hmm. I think I disagree with more than half of your points... partially on ethical grounds, partially on differences of experience, and partially on our respective evaluations of society and the state of the world we live in.
For starters, I think y'all might be assigning too much value to The Biological Imperative; it seems like you're taking "squeezing out maximum babies to increase the population of people who are similar to you," (presumably rather than babies who are like Those Other People?) and conflating that with "meaningful contribution to Society." If it's not apparent, let me just say that these are two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS, with NO CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP and NOTHING TO DO WITH ONE ANOTHER.
Maximum Babies ≠ Magically A Good Thing. Take a quick peek at a few of the mass extinction events brought on by soaring and unsustainable populations of living things. Consider
The Oxygen Holocaust or
The Great Dying, brought on by massive overpopulation of a certain species of photosynthetic organism, or of methanogenic microorganisms 2 billion years later. You can read almost any ecological publication and see the same strains happening today, though the culprits are bigger and arguably smarter this time around. (P.S. Those culprits are us)
And I know this puts me at odds with a lot of people on the internet who mostly seem to hate kids and honestly kind of seem to hate being alive in general, but I think continuing your lineage, both genetic and cultural, is inherently a worthwhile activity.
The West tends to (especially in the modern day) feel the pull of death very strongly, because we live by a nihilism wherein we find everything meaningless and of no higher purpose. I see that because the distant past and distant future are more or less meaningless to us as humans as we as humans are meaningless to the cosmos as a source of impetus, cherish and make well with the present because it's all we have, so we must use it well. To that end kids are a great gift, I don't understand how you can look at a new soul being brought into the world as something unethical; it's a new mind ready to experience all the hardship and fulfillment the world has to offer.
I do wonder if the reason why Western society has such high depression and suicide rates is because it has so few families? The greatest, wealthiest and most accomplished do not compare to a good parent
Er... wot? Wot x 10, even?
Note, I'm speaking as someone who loves children, but doesn't want to have any kids of their own... but what the hell is this all about? I love the world, and the modern era. I love children, and teaching and taking care of the kids in my life is something I enjoy more than most things. My decision not to have kids is a sacrifice I choose to make because I'm not thinking as an individual... I can see my place as a small part of the Human Species, and as part of the large and interconnected ecological and environmental web of our Planet. I personally know too many families who've thoughtlessly popped out 7 or 8 kids because they care more about their own "immortality" through propagation of their own genes, and couldn't give two shits about their actual contributions to Human Culture, Environmental Wellness, or General Posterity. Even if they're stand-up examples of parenthood, they still honestly expect their kids to fix the world for them, since they're apparently too damn lazy to better themselves and make a difference with the sweat of their own brow. Given that the Apple doesn't often fall far from the tree, how much do you want to bet their ancestors have been making the same decision on into history? And what makes them think their children and grandchildren won't just do the same thing, and put the weight of improving the world on their offspring?
We're all responsible, and personally so, for making this world a better place. So many children are wards of the state as-is, and don't have parents or families to care for them... yet there's all these shitty breeder-families that put the gratification of their ego above the well-being of their kids or the world, or even above general respect for human life. If I ever have a family, I plan to adopt, and pick up the slack for some of the breeders out there who couldn't be arsed to give a shit. Our world (as of 2012) has converted more than 50% of it's total land surface to provide strictly for the needs of the existing Human population, and is still failing to provide for those needs. It makes no sense to FURTHER INCREASE the rate of reproduction. We're not only burning a candle at both ends- we're getting ready to take a blowtorch to the middle too. And the destabilized and ever-worsening state of our environment reflects that fact.
We are literally a small, conscious part of this world; part of a system far bigger than you or I, bigger than a family, or a country, or even a species. No one is an island of genetically similar people; we're a continent of humans, other life-forms, and environments that make up our world. And we need to grow up, pull on our adult diapers, and act like it.
Rather depressing that everyone involved in western politics sees raising family as this burden.
I'm going to guess that we had very different childhoods. Raise a kid. Or take care of a kid sibling while you're still a child yourself. Or even have a chat with a low-income or single parent about their experiences. Then we can talk about how effortless raising a family is, or how selfish those couples are being for not choosing to reproduce.
I was raised by a single mom. 3 kids was more than my mother could afford to care for. Despite working 2-3 jobs, and even with assistance from relatives and from the State, we regularly went hungry. We lived in an old trailer, with rotted holes in the kitchen floor big enough to fall straight through. The water in our neighborhood smelled like rotten eggs, and stained everything brown. My 2 siblings and I shared a tiny bedroom where my brother and I had to crawl over my older sister's bed to get to our bunk. I got my first job was while I was still in elementary school, working off the books at the shop my Mom managed; I opened shipments, took inventory, labeled produce, set up product displays, and did my homework in the break room. My Mom paid me in compliments and granola bars, and I helped us stay afloat.
I didn't have the luxury of a childhood. She didn't have the luxury of having a social life, or getting to spend much time with her kids. I knew the burden my siblings and I put on her, and there were a few times driving home from school when I asked her frankly why she chose to have me at all... not a spiteful thing or a depression thing, but just a frank question. Raising kids is hard. Not everyone has the freedom or ability to do a good job of it, either. I respect people who realize this about themselves, and choose to hold off on having kids unless things change.
Because kids need stability and positive role models.
True. To add, that kind of stability doesn't need to come from the place you're living, or from your genetic relatives. Perhaps understandably, my Mom was almost never around. We were close with our other relatives, but they were largely bitter, prejudiced, or abusive people, who may have done as much harm as good to my siblings and I. I was lucky to have a strong community outside my family, particularly the role models I found in my teachers, in my best friend's parents, and so on. Weirdly, living in a trailer park meant I had a lot of friends within easy walking distance, and plenty of other households where I could escape the fights, or find a table to eat at from time to time, and generally find the support and friendship I needed.
Blood doesn't mean Shit, unless your family chooses to think of it that way. Families aren't some cosmic force for good; they're just a social group; every function some folks assign to A Good-Old-Fashioned Nuclear Family can be fulfilled just as well by public servants like teachers, by peers, and by neighbors and community. I'm a living testament to that.