I’ve been contemplating this one for a long time. I think I got my first “Here’s a woman holding a baby in an operating room” photo in probably January 2009; I got my last one about 18 days ago, so I’ve been on this train for 13 years, give or take, with no equivalent photo of my own (admittedly, I’m not a woman). A lot changes for people when they enter BabyLand. It’s like entering a new subdivision, or taking a new exit on the freeway, but obviously with much greater significance. So, in the process, are you thusly a selfish prick?
No. Not necessarily.
First: in this context, “selfish” has a positive connotation, not a negative one. The thing you’ll hear back from new parents is, and admittedly there’s a bit of virtue-signaling here, but you’ll hear “Well, I’m keeping this child alive.” You are, sure, but in reality the advanced supply chain of the first-world is keeping the child alive, and you’re putting spoons and breasts near it, and posting a lot of pictures that Asian countries are mining for AI purposes. But I digress. Yes, you’re keeping it alive. So in that way, selfish is good.
Second: I think sometimes that people have kids for the “wrong” reasons, insofar as there are “right” reasons at a time of overpopulation as a baseline. By “wrong” I mean Joneses, and/or “Well, my friends are all having kids, so I need something…
