"Society does not need more children; but it does need more loved children'
Is the first line of a quote by Garrett Hardin. I had never heard it before . It's an uncomfortable truth . We do not like to think about these children ,the homeless , the abused ,the neglected, the starving.Or if we do we prefer if they to think fo them in another country far away . When I was a kid I wanted to give all my Communion money to Concern. I think I was left give half. As an adult I have donated to Focus Ireland and done the shoeboxes with my daughters school but it's just a drop in the ocean. Its a kind thing to do but I'm not standing in front of these people helping them or adopting the orphans. I'm detached from this fact that there are children in this world who are unwanted. That there children that their parents actually can not afford to feed so they would rather abandon the child hoping it will be found by someone who can care for her rather than watch her die . The thought of not being able to provide for my daughter is heartbreaking . It 's happening in our own country never mind the Third World. I was reading an article about single Mothers taking their own lives as they felt pushed to their limits , that they couldn't manage on welfare they were receiving or couldn't afford childcare or bills even though they were working.Its frightening considering we are suppose to be living in a First World country. The rest of the quote goes 'Quite literally, we cannot afford unloved children – but we pay heavily for them every day. There should not be the slightest communal concern when a woman elects to destroy the life of her thousandth-of-an-ounce embryo. But all society should rise up in alarm when it hears that a baby that is not wanted is about to be born' .It sounds quite harsh. As do some of his other beliefs -he believed in Eugenics through forced sterilization and he that we shouldn't send food aid to Ethiopa to alleviate the famine as we would be encouraging population. He also held, to me anyway, worrying views relating to race and intelligence.
He suffered from complications due to childhood polio and his wife Jane developed Motor Neurones disease.My Father had this too but died in his sixties. Garret and Jane took their own live when they were in their eighties and their health had degenerated. They were members of The Hemlock Society( later The End of Life choices society). There four children semed to accept that their parents had done what they wanted to do. This is interesting as we are now living longer which is great if you have a good quality of life but if not? Is is a very controversial view to suggest the option of ending ones one life if you feel its not worth living anymore. Who gets to decide this and if the person is mentally capable of deciding but not physically capable of doing it without assistance? . Its easy to think of it hypothetically but what would you really do if you were in this situation. I'm can't say what I would do, I think if I had a terminal illness and was in pain I would say yes, off to Dignitas with me but would I go through with it or would the will to live keep me going until the inevitable end. Would I feel guiltier about leaving my family or for fact they would have to care for me and what the inevitable unfold slowly? I don't know, these are uncomfortable aspects of life that we hope we will never have to deal with. Not for everyone mind but as our population is living longer , for more of us
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