Money

[amber]

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

Ok - but giving free contraception? I mean condoms are readily available - there are ways to get free contraception (though its not as widely available as it needs to be) but would people be anywhere near responsible enough to actually USE contraception. There are still a lot of stupid people out there.

And a lot of guys who actually use lines like "I'll pull out" and "you won't get pregnant"

I think more people would, because people don't like condoms because they are condoms. Also, even at planned parenthood where things are cheap/free - abortions still cost $400 no matter how poor you are.
And in foreign countries, like Africa, birth control/medical attention is not widely available.

Besides, Deanna, my point isn't about children, it's about changing the way people think about global issues and the consumption of resources - especially americans. Children not starving is a side effect of that. And, nothing is so simple as to happen overnight, but the sooner we change, the sooner the world can change for the better, including our own country. Changing people's thinking takes time, but it also takes effort. And we could be putting in a lot more effort, IMO.

[DrummerDeanna]

Originally Posted by amber

Besides, Deanna, my point isn't about children, it's about changing the way people think about global issues and the consumption of resources - especially americans. Children not starving is a side effect of that. And, nothing is so simple as to happen overnight, but the sooner we change, the sooner the world can change for the better, including our own country. Changing people's thinking takes time, but it also takes effort. And we could be putting in a lot more effort, IMO.

That may be harder to accomplish than stopping people from having children

I agree that a shift in thinking and the way we live is needed, I often think about the choices I make and the things I do and their effect on the environment etc - but I do little to change my behaviours and I know that.

But I know I'm not the worst of the problem - when I was living in a dorm in DC I saw things that made me sick. Namely on move-out day girls who were throwing away whole bedding sets, bags with price tags still on them, full bottles of shampoo etc - they were throwing them in the TRASH when only a few feet away say a "clothes for the homeless" bin.

Many people are wasteful and thoughtless and it makes me sad - but really it seems that things are only getting worse rather than better