Children in an Era of Hyper Individuality and Late Stage Capitalism

A look into the childfree movement, declining birth rates, ecofascism, and parenting under late stage capitalism and the rise of hyper individuality.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the viewer survey :-)

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Intro/Thesis 0:00
Part 1: Birth Rates, Ecofascism, Childfree plane rides/weddings etc
Part 2: Parenting, The Loss of ‘The Village’, Homeschooling 24:54
Conclusion 42:59

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Music:
H E R lofi
[non copyright music]her lofi-still care(aesthetic music)/free vlogmusicbackground #lofi

[ImFangzBro]

It's like, kids are a big responsibility. People being mature enough to recognize they wouldn't be good parents should be accepted.

[solarmoth]

Working with kids made me realize how often children are at the whims of their parents. Often their parents don’t provide them with the care they need and the kids have no say, they need adults to access the system. It’s so sad. A lot of time I feel people assign a weird manipulativeness to kids actions. Like they are acting certain ways to manipulate adults instead of just being kids learning to deal with stuff.

[hannahbrennan]

I'm childfree by choice. Not because I dislike children, I just wouldn't be able to handle taking care of them 24/7. I'm more Auntie material than Mom material.

[EqqusHearts]

I think one of the major reasons for child free weddings isn’t just because people hate kids (while there definitely are people who do) it’s the fact that there are lots of parents who don’t or won’t monitor their kids during the event.

[waverlyaltis]

In school I remember watching a TedTalk by a teacher, and the teacher said something along the lines of “no matter how terrible a child is acting or how much you despise them, you never let a child know that you dislike them.” That always stuck with me, and I always think of it whenever I see adults talking shit about children (especially to the child’s face). Children are sensitive and can definitely act terrible, but they are still people and deserve to know they are cared for and can grow to be someone more behaved.

[crystalh]

I think it's interesting that kids are judged so harshly for their lack of emotional regulation but many adults have a hard time regulating, also. Granted, abuse usually plays a big part in that, but as you've mentioned, there are so few resources to make our society healthier and our social programs have been in a steady decline since the 80's.

[IzzyMoonbow]

As a Gen z, i remember hearing everyone complaining and making fun of millennials as a kid, and then as a teen people started doing it to my generation. I’m surprised at how fast they’re doing it to Gen alpha. They didn’t even wait till they were teenagers yet

[danielg.w]

Sadly, children have been seen as a source of free labour (both domestic and non domestic) across the world for thousands of years. Child labour under capitalism is an extension of that age old practice.

[smljnsn]

"I don't hate kids, I respect them. I think they should have parents who want them." -childfree icon Christina Yang.

[tatermister]

I know whenever my mom saw a baby or toddler cry, she'd say, "aww, it's tough being a baby." Because it is. Everything is new and upsetting. We should be like my mom.

[Neku]

Yeah, being a kid has always been rough. Anyone else remember a teacher or a principal saying, "You have no rights in school!"

[nervousbreakdown]

I don’t get annoyed with children so much as I get annoyed with their parents. I remember when I was walking through Christmas lights and there was this toddler screaming for her mother. Immediately me and the women around us started asking who she was with and if she was lost. Turns out her father was several feet away…on his phone.

Same with flights. Children screaming from the change in altitude is fine, but when they start kicking the seat while the mom or dad is on their phone, I get upset.

[HK]

I think the problem with the iPad kids meme is that it misattributes the lack of engaged parenting to a failing in the child. It's actually crazy. The one time I have been upset flying with a baby on board was with a mother who put on industrial strength noise canceling headphones and slept while her baby intermittently wailed the whole flight. The baby was crying when she did this.

[tasteofvic]

Kids are also crying on planes bc their ears are popping and it’s painful and confusing (especially if they’re not talking yet). Apparently the best thing you can do for that is let the kid cry bc that makes them swallow, which unpops their ears.

[zeezee]

The real bummer about iPad kids is restaurants are now providing tablets for kids instead of crayons and menus, and even in my 20s I could still use a lil game of tic tac toe or coloring while I wait to eat

[WhatWouldLubitschDo]

It’s really good to see someone standing up for kids. I both would never and could never raise one, but children are constantly exploited, forgotten, and blamed, yet it’s still rarely acknowledged. And as a former child (obviously), I still remember the glares and snide comments of adults who blamed me for existing in situations I had no choice in.

[stubbs]

I totally get the childfree wedding thing and I do NOT think the bride and groom should have to pay for childcare but I also think they should be ok with people not coming if they don’t want to leave their kids at home. You have to decide if it’s more important for you to have high attendance or no kids - you can’t have it both ways!

[happyascheese]

In my experience of having been a disabled child, I felt my parents resentment of me keenly growing up. (We are estranged in now that I've reached adulthood and frankly it's been better for my mental health.) There was always this push of trying to get my body to function as that an able-bodied child. Any accomplishments and who I was as an individual were secondary and were often ignored. There's nothing like wanting your parent to notice you and wanting to make them proud in a public space only to be yelled at about your body once you got to the car. (That is if they come to any of your events at all.) My disability was a source of shame and embarrassment for my family of origin.

I feel like American society esp. excuses the mistreatment and abuse of disabled children because they're so "hard for the parent to take care of". Older generations were conditioned to have children in order to have someone to take care of them in old age. Therefore, the universe owes them able-bodied child. Capitalism reinforces ableism. Honestly, all of this is to say that if you can't stomach the idea of having a disabled child, please don't have children. I was the eldest and no child wants to be resented for their entire existence.

[Egray]

There are parents who have a “village”, but the individuals in said village lack the emotional intelligence for parents to entrust them with alone time with their children.

[serenedaoud]

I'm Palestinian, and growing up, attending weddings was a central part of my childhood and a chance to meet other children i otherwise would never have met. Parties were considered for everyone, because in the middle east there is no emphasis on getting drunk or consuming alcohol, even if it's a Christian Arabic wedding (yes, there are many Christian Arabs across the Arab world, where do you think Jesus was from??) Parties such as weddings were also a way to learn the customs of your respective community (the food prepared and served, the music played; i learned how to belly-dance from age 5 because i witnessed older girls and women dance at weddings and parties) Because there was always alot of kids of all ages at parties, the older kids organically took on the task of watching out for the younger kids, so there was no need for daycare. This segregation between age groups in the Western countries is truly strange and verging on insane from the Middle Eastern perspective. We often feel very sorry for you.