KINDER VERBOTEN!
It turns out that in good old Deutschland, more than a third of adults are going through life childless, or, as some of us prefer, blissfully unencumbered.
Germany's birth rate has not been a salient political issue since the Nazi era, which one would think might offer half a clue that treating half a citizenry like breeding cows is perhaps not the best way to run a state. But apparently not.
Instead, "the two ruling parties are trying to outdo each other with pro-family measures."
Sure, that might and probably does make for a practically unsustainable state in the long term, but if you allow people the freedom to pursue their own interests and their own lifestyles, don't be surprised if they find they fancy it and aren't particularly eager to revert.
And sure it may be ominous for national pride or domestic economics, but few would classify underpopulation as one of the paramount global ills of the moment. Couldn't this trend toward fewer children in some nations be part of some kind of feedback loop or population cycle, that may resolve itself with time? Must the state step in and impose "pro-family" measures at the expense of everyone else?
And it's not just at the expense of citizens–these familial-minded Führers are also wrenching away our hope. You see, as long as places like Germany exist, some of us can take comfort in believing there are nations on this earth to which we could emigrate and still enjoy a high standard of living while escaping that maddening, patronizing cultural obsession with catering to kids, marriage and real families.
If I may descend for a moment into Euro-snobbery, I've been to Germany, and I rather liked it. There's not too much sun, trains are always on time, the food and drink are delightful–and from what I've seen, its public spaces aren't crawling with cajoling children.
(Sure, cigarette smoke permeates most public spaces, but I'd take more carcinogenic fumes over more kids any day, because the fumes only assail one sense at a time. And slowly kill you, I suppose, but 'tis a small price to pay for such sweet if transient earthly joy that comes with a shrinking populace.)
If taken to its extreme, such a state could develop a global community of diverse individuals coalesced around a shared aversion to children. Or, syntaxed more optimistically, on a shared revelry in peace unassailed by wailing babes, motion unobstructed by strollers and scurrying toddlers and aesthetics uncorrupted by the little spawns and the unseemly particulars of their care.
The willing could look back to classical philosophy and choose to pursue their versions of immortality through the intellectual and creative–nurturing Platonic conceptions of the good and just and harmonious and giving birth in beauty to progeny that won't just be more bodies taking up space, misusing and corrupting what the useful ones create.
At the very least, Germany and nations like it have solid infrastructural and societal underpinnings for a new kind quasi-utopian modern state that is not overtly "child-friendly," but merely "child-tolerant."
And though I may be a cruel and heartless bitch, I'm also a pragmatist–I'd drink to that, and how.
Germany's birth rate has not been a salient political issue since the Nazi era, which one would think might offer half a clue that treating half a citizenry like breeding cows is perhaps not the best way to run a state. But apparently not.
Instead, "the two ruling parties are trying to outdo each other with pro-family measures."
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government -- formed late last year -- recently agreed to give new mothers generous one-year wage replacement subsidies. Plans to eliminate fees for kindergarten are also being floated.Well, boo hoo frickin' hoo. Realize, the United States is anomalous among "modern" nations at the moment for having a growing population. Could it be, perhaps, that these contemporaries of ours have had a taste of several decades living in decent states that respect and provide for them regardless of whether they're part of an ideal, "real family?"
"It's the first time since 1945 that a German government has come out of the closet about population policy," wrote the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. "Family policy is suddenly chic."
Despite state financial support of 150 billion euros ($180 billion) a year for child support programs including monthly subsidies of 154 euros per child, many Germans are reluctant to start families due to a generally frosty attitude to children.
Parents with young children are often made to feel unwelcome in restaurants, employers rarely make arrangements for workers with small children, preschool care in some places is hard to find and fees far exceed costs for university. Many schools also close at noon, making it difficult for working parents.
Sure, that might and probably does make for a practically unsustainable state in the long term, but if you allow people the freedom to pursue their own interests and their own lifestyles, don't be surprised if they find they fancy it and aren't particularly eager to revert.
And sure it may be ominous for national pride or domestic economics, but few would classify underpopulation as one of the paramount global ills of the moment. Couldn't this trend toward fewer children in some nations be part of some kind of feedback loop or population cycle, that may resolve itself with time? Must the state step in and impose "pro-family" measures at the expense of everyone else?
And it's not just at the expense of citizens–these familial-minded Führers are also wrenching away our hope. You see, as long as places like Germany exist, some of us can take comfort in believing there are nations on this earth to which we could emigrate and still enjoy a high standard of living while escaping that maddening, patronizing cultural obsession with catering to kids, marriage and real families.
If I may descend for a moment into Euro-snobbery, I've been to Germany, and I rather liked it. There's not too much sun, trains are always on time, the food and drink are delightful–and from what I've seen, its public spaces aren't crawling with cajoling children.
(Sure, cigarette smoke permeates most public spaces, but I'd take more carcinogenic fumes over more kids any day, because the fumes only assail one sense at a time. And slowly kill you, I suppose, but 'tis a small price to pay for such sweet if transient earthly joy that comes with a shrinking populace.)
If taken to its extreme, such a state could develop a global community of diverse individuals coalesced around a shared aversion to children. Or, syntaxed more optimistically, on a shared revelry in peace unassailed by wailing babes, motion unobstructed by strollers and scurrying toddlers and aesthetics uncorrupted by the little spawns and the unseemly particulars of their care.
The willing could look back to classical philosophy and choose to pursue their versions of immortality through the intellectual and creative–nurturing Platonic conceptions of the good and just and harmonious and giving birth in beauty to progeny that won't just be more bodies taking up space, misusing and corrupting what the useful ones create.
At the very least, Germany and nations like it have solid infrastructural and societal underpinnings for a new kind quasi-utopian modern state that is not overtly "child-friendly," but merely "child-tolerant."
And though I may be a cruel and heartless bitch, I'm also a pragmatist–I'd drink to that, and how.
posted by Holly at 1:57 AM
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