Hi everybody!
I would like to add a remark on what Michelle Kovi said:
" Overpopulation as brought up by RL Curry, along with
overconsumption are the primary driving forces in many (all?) of our
ecological problems. I find this issue especially complicated for
ecofeminists. As feminist we are dedicated to preserving reproductive
rights, including rights to reproduce. I find it horrible that almost
anyone that can afford to have a child can, through medical
advances. In an attempt to concieve and add to our overcrowded world,
they are using up enormous medical resources. In addition, premature and
underdeveloped babies are "saved" at high costs, too. I recognize the
responsibility of a culture to care for the health of the people, but I
wonder how far we should go-especially within the context of
overconsumption. I find parenthood a very complicated issue in light of
the overpopulation issue. Since I am not a parent (nor plan to be), I
would be interested in hearing a parent's (grandparent's) perspective.
What should we do individually about overpopulation?
Michelle Covi"
I=B4m concerned about overpopulation alright. But the point is not so much
whether we have too many kids or not. The point is: in the industrial
countries we are consuming much more ressources and energy per person. And
that is happening in smaller families (especially those without kids)
rather than in bigger ones. If people don=B4t have children or only have one
child they do not only have to feed themselves and the kid. They also have
to entertain themselves with all sorts of toys (for children and for grown
ups) and other ressource and energy consuming activities like for instance
travelling.
As a mother of three kids I find it ecologically sound to be able to offer
my children the possibility of playing with one another, so I actually
don=B4t have to bother so much about enternaining them. This is good for the
parents, who somehow have more time for themselves and also for the
children, who are at least allowed to develop their own games and
activities, learning from each other. Anyway, there is also a difficult
part of it, but after the third kid it just isn=B4t that problematic, becaus=
e
you tend to develop another way of looking at things... I think one of the
major the problems about our northern societies is that we=B4re spoiling
ourselves, so that most people have actually forgotten how uncomplicated
life can actually be with children. Not having children favours
overconsumption and even addictive behaviours.
By the way, the metaphor of Earth as a Mother is not that relevant to me.
We should instead start thinking whether we in the western world don=B4t ten=
d
to see our home and our car as some sort of womb where we feel cosy and
protected from the outside wold. This kind of "bubble-complex" is bad for
us. We should not be that afraid of going outside and look at we=B4re really
doing to our environment.
Yes, being a mother is giving me some strength and hope. I wonder about how
Mother Earth (or whatever we want to call it/her/him!) feels about not
having enough grandchildren in the industrial world... Or about having her
(its, his...) northern kids doing nothing about their lives besides
entertaining themselves while the southern grandchildren are condemned to
starve.
Look, we have to face reality. One thing the fact of having kids teaches us
is that there *is* really something *out there*, outside our cosy little
womblike home. We are somewhat forced to grow up and look at it. And what I
see is definitely not what I want for my children.
P.S. Yes, I often don=B4t have enough time to read all my mail, to do my
research (I=B4m a linguist and I=B4ve enjoyed the remarks about metaphors, b=
y
the way!) or to work as hard as I would like, etc, etc. But my husband (a
computer scientist) took the three kids to his office today (as he
frequently does) and I managed to write this. I wonder what they are doing
right now, or if he=B4s being able to work at all! Well, this is definitely =
a
risk we=B4re taking and we don=B4t resent it. It=B4s better than other risks=
some
people take on behalf of us all and we often don=B4t come to know about.
Adelaide Chichorro Ferreira
Coimbra
Portugal
