this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2026
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There's enough people on the planet (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 10 hours ago by iiiisisisi@sh.itjust.works to c/comicstrips@lemmy.world
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[–] Jmsnwbrd@lemmy.world 1 points 28 minutes ago

"Sooo. . . . Are we supposed to have kids?"

No, just sit around and watch this shit keep happening or better yet, just go on your phone and pretend nothing is happening. You could also just blame everything on everyone else and still keep contributing to the things you are complaining about . . .

Or fucking go and do something , like maybe even something as simple as casting a vote. So many of the younger people are complaining and then when the bare minimum can be done by voting for someone who has the same values . . .nope.

And half the voting population just stays home because, "Both sides are the same!" Whelp, that's an easy way out and just adds to the bullshit.

How about: look for some nuance in the candidates? Or maybe just vote against the more evil fuck. Or maybe get involved, run for some leadership role, help out people in your neighborhood, advocate for spending more on education, protest. . . Do something . It's your turn! Get off the internet and do something.

[–] ColdWater@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 hours ago (3 children)

Most of these points only apply to the US

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 1 points 18 minutes ago

Don't you know USA is one of the 4 country in the world? The other 3 is China, Russia, and Europe.

[–] mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 3 hours ago

Yeah, the US! That's the big ball in the picture!

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Sort of crazy to look at the birth rates in, like, the DRC or Afghanistan and conclude they must have done everything right.

America can have birth rates on par with Pakistan and Somalia if they just obliterate access to birth control and end all public education. Concentrate large numbers of American teenagers into ghettos and refuge camps where there's nothing better to do than fuck. Guaranteed you'll get another baby boom inside ten months.

[–] Mongostein@lemmy.ca 47 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (2 children)

Have a kid.

18 years from now: “Good luck in the water wars, son”

I’m too nice to do that to someone.

[–] some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

Are ya winning, son?

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 10 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

My siblings' kids are all angry at the hubris their parents had to birth them. I love them and get it, but it's a hell of a lot more complicated than that and nihilism is so 2005. I think. I was pretty dissociated that year but I had a professor who talked about it a lot according to dissociated me's notes.

[–] some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

My wife and I had ours in 2024. I've always felt that it was my purpose to be an amazing dad to someone, because I didn't really have one.

So I went ahead and became an amazing dad. I'm righting so many wrongs, healing, learning from and teaching myself, my wife and those around me, blah blah blah. There is just that much more love in the world and I feel so much more capable than I did before.

Will my little one start asking the hard questions in 10-15 yrs?

Probably. But they won't be alone.

I am willing to bet that they won't be too far off from the ones I was asking at that age. Not only does little one have 2 committed, full-time, safe parents -- I also feel 100x more prepared to follow those inquiries than any adult figure that was in my life was when I was doing the asking. Yes, we are lucky. IMO it behooves the lucky ones to put in this work.

"Nihilism" is the perfect descriptor for this flavor of antinatalism. I do get where it's coming from (because, believe me, we have struggles). And yeah, don't have a kid who you know won't be supported -- it's irresponsible. But don't pretend you're better off because of a choice we made for ourselves.

I don't feel like we're even close to a stage where it's ok to just throw up our hands, turn away, and let the light die out. We need a turning towards and inwards to make a better place, even if the struggles are uncomfortable.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 0 points 3 hours ago

My siblings’ kids are all angry at the hubris their parents had to birth them.

It's a weird thing to be angry about. They now have agency over the world they live in. If they hate it, they can change it. That's an opportunity given to vanishingly few life forms on the planet.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 16 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Not conservative Millenials/Z. Apparently.

Judging by slices I see on Reddit/Facebook/Twitter, they are in alternate reality where all this is hysteria. The plan is to settle down with a tradwife and smile into their Rumble podcasts, I guess?

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world -3 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Judging by slices I see on Reddit/Facebook/Twitter, they are in alternate reality where all this is hysteria.

It is hysteria. The outcry is fully unreflective of social conditions, at least within the United States. Go back to the 1980s, when all the millennials were being born, and describe the modern era - historic low crime, a superabundance of cheap consumer goods, massive housing surpluses, cheap and inexhaustible energy, no nuclear wars. We're not living with acid rain or radioactive wastelands or Soylent Green levels of food shortages. The scariest thing about AI is that it sucks.

Imagine how many people wouldn't have had kids 40 years ago knowing the modern state of America.

So much of this shit really is just terminally online doomerism. It's not material.

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 2 points 16 minutes ago

Keep ignoring all the road signs that there is a curve ahead. No need to slow down. In fact, speed up.

[–] Deceptichum@quokk.au 29 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

I’d say adopt/care for the many unwanted kids.

[–] wavebeam@lemmy.world 18 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

This is what my wife and I did. I think it is a good thing to do, but if you look at my comment history just one comment down from this, you'll see good reason for what I'm about to say:

Not everyone should do this. It is extremely challenging, and its not something I think most people can take on successfully. Unfortunately, the fact that a kid is in a situation to be adopted means they have been severely impacted by trauma, which means that they will be considerably harder to parent than a kid you have biologically.

It is not for the faint of heart. Hell, its not even for those of a strong constitution. I have been nearly broken many times, and I've only been parenting my kids for 5 years. I have wanted to quit countless times.

[–] Deceptichum@quokk.au 9 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

I was adopted - abandoned at the hospital after birth. Not every adoptee has a deeply traumatic past that makes it hard to raise them.

Likewise many bio children are just as capable of being stressful and challenging to raise.

Glad to see you’ve gone this route and thank you for doing so. I just wanted to dispel some fears for others.

[–] wavebeam@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

Most definitely, but I think in general people underestimate the challenges they can find in adoption. Those kids deserve loving families, it’s just something I know people I personally know who have expressed interest in adopting would not be able to handle.

[–] kora@sh.itjust.works 7 points 5 hours ago

Wish you both the best of luck and send a hug. I hope the tide turns and you get to enjoy it more with time. We need more people like you in this world.

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[–] tal@lemmy.today 33 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (2 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Didn%27t_Start_the_Fire

"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a song written by American musician Billy Joel.

Joel conceived the idea for the song when he had just turned 40. He was in a recording studio and met a 21-year-old friend of Sean Lennon who said "It's a terrible time to be 21!". Joel replied: "Yeah, I remember when I was 21 – I thought it was an awful time and we had Vietnam, and y'know, drug problems, and civil rights problems and everything seemed to be awful". The friend replied: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's different for you. You were a kid in the fifties and everybody knows that nothing happened in the fifties". Joel retorted: "Wait a minute, didn't you hear of the Korean War or the Suez Canal Crisis?" Joel later said those headlines formed the basic framework for the song.[4]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g

🎵 We didn't start the fire 🎵
🎵 It was always burning since the world's been turning 🎵
🎵 We didn't start the fire 🎵
🎵 No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it 🎵

[–] lemmie689@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 8 hours ago (3 children)

We did start the fire, about 400k years ago, some Homo created magic; a prodigy, a firestarter.

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 1 points 14 minutes ago

That mother fucker. It's all his fault. Or her fault. I'm equal opportunity.

[–] Mongostein@lemmy.ca 17 points 7 hours ago (3 children)

A twisted firestarter?

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 4 points 4 hours ago

Punkin instigator.

[–] lemmie689@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 6 hours ago

Alchemy and arsonry, live together in perfect harmony.

[–] Digit@lemmy.wtf 2 points 6 hours ago

They've got the poison, they've got the remedy.

[–] Digit@lemmy.wtf 2 points 6 hours ago

And then some downvote those trying to fight it. Boggles the mind.

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