Last month, Miley Cyrus hit the news for two reasons: She split up from husband Liam Hemsworth and she said she was not having kids because of the climate crisis. Just 10 or 15 years ago, it would have been rare to hear about a woman not wanting children. It would have also been rare to find women past 30 who were not married and without kids. Times have changed since then with many people consciously choosing not to have children. Anti-natalism, as it is called, is now a rising movement that has grown into a worldwide phenomenon.
What is anti-natalism?
Literally, anti-natalism means being “anti birth”. But the movement is not so literal. Many, like Miley, see not having children as an environmentally conscious decision and a morally ethical thing to do. However, the term “anti-natalism” has more philosophical beginnings. It was first used by David Benatar, a South African philosopher who wrote a book called Better Never To Have Been. The book put out the idea that the only way to stop suffering on earth is to stop bringing human life into it in the first place.
In today’s world, however, anti-natalism has less to do with abstract human suffering and much more to do with the very real environmental crisis we are going through, the financial burden of raising children, and the unstable political climate. Just in India itself, Delhi is slated to run out of ground water by next year while the capital’s winters come with toxic and polluted air. Kerala and Assam go through horrific floods every single year while Chennai went through a water crisis in spite of being right next to the sea.
Many, especially millennials, believe that the earth cannot sustain any more people without killing the environment. Once the environment is ruined, the existence of the human race itself will be at stake.
Is it a selfish decision?
The older generations see this decision to not have children as one that is inherently selfish. That young people today are too busy building careers and partying to have the time to invest in a child. However, considering the varied reasons for people being anti-natalist from environmental concerns to financial constraints, millennials seem to have actually been forced into not wanting children in a world which is proving to be increasing difficult to survive in.
“What about your family line? Who will look after you when you are old? Isn’t it natural to want kids?” These are the questions often asked of people who don’t want children. The fact that it is innately wired into us to procreate makes it exceedingly hard to answer these questions satisfactorily if you are an anti-natalist.
People who have had trouble conceiving are especially offended when their decision to have children is questioned. In the end, having children is an extremely personal decision, which must be left to the individuals involved.
Anti-natalism has a way of dividing people into two opposing camps–those who want kids and those who don’t–but many from both sides agree on one thing: That the concerns leading to the rise of anti-natalism are real. The climate crisis is real. The rising costs of raising children is real. The rise in political instability is real. It is time that more people, and not just celebrities like Miley Cyrus, started working towards a solution to these concerns.
