Episode 15 is out now! Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcasts and more.
Also, we now have a Youtube channel! As if listening to us wasn’t enough, you can now also see our (questionably) charming faces in action as we debate each topic.
Is it wrong to have children in an era of climate change?
In this episode, Jake and Ant look at the ethics of having children in the context of climate change. Is it ok to birth a child into a doomed circumstance...is this circumstance quite so doomed...even if it wasn't, is it maybe wrong to birth someone without their permission anyway?
To help structure your thoughts, here’s how we broke it down over at the Morality of Everyday Things:
There are two (quite distinct) reasons it might be wrong to have children in an era of climate change.
1) Because bringing children into an “essentially doomed” world is to knowingly cause suffering to another being without their consent
2) Because having children - according to some studies - is a significant way to increase your carbon footprint, thus exacerbating the issue of climate change
So there’s a lot to get into. Why do people have children - and is there a moral basis for this being a human right? Are there other circumstances apart from climate change where it would be wrong to have children? What if you can’t afford to care for them, or you suffer from an inheritable illness?
What is the anti-natalism movement? It turns out to be an older idea than the question might imply - in fact, anti-natalism gained a lot of traction during the Cold War. What is the basis for this belief system?
Are the studies showing that children massively increase your carbon footprint valid? And if you’re thinking about having children, while being conscious of the above issues, what options are available to you? What policies should governments introduce now to mitigate against not just climate change, but the associated harms of over-population, such as food and energy shortages?
Send us your comments. Where do you stand on this question?
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Meme(s) of the Week:
Stasher / Treepoints:
Lastly, this show is currently free of sponsorship, so we’ll take this opportunity to plug our two businesses.
Stasher.com - Need short term storage? When we can all travel again this year, use Stasher for affordable and convenient luggage storage on your trips.
And Treepoints - Do you want to learn more about climate change and take action to help? A Treepoints subscription, from just £3.25/month, will support the world’s best climate crisis solutions, and you’ll be able to track your impact, while getting access to a wealth of resources on climate change.
Treepoints for Business launched in April, helping companies manage their footprints and offset their teams or sales. Treepoints also lets companies plant trees/recycle plastic at point of sale, so look out for Treepoints online!
Until next time!
Jake & Ant