I agree with Mister Money Mustache's stance on children. I firmly believe that the decision to have children, as well as the number, is a personal decision and shouldn't be influenced by anyone other than those involved. I'll admit, back in the 1800s when the survival of children couldn't be guaranteed, it might have been unwise to only have one child. But this is the 21st century. The negative mindset surrounding only children is outdated. In addition, there's a huge body of research that heavily suggests the stereotypes surrounding only children, that they're more selfish, spoiled, and antisocial than other children, are completely untrue. [1] [2]
The article is useful because it can function as an eye-opener to readers. It forces readers to consider an option they might never have considered otherwise. This article can trigger the same epiphany in readers that Mister Money Mustache himself had.
The article in question can be found here: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/09/10/great-news-youre-allowed-to-have-only-one-kid/
A website I highly recommend is Cartogracy.com. Cartogracy.com presents an interactive map of the current conflicts going on in the world. It breaks down the conflicts by trending and inactive, the general category they fall into (public unrest, insurgency, or war), and their causes (political, ethnic, economic, religious, or international). Upon selecting the conflict, you can find out the number of casualties, the number of people displaced, the goal of the conflict, the opponents, an up-to-date summary of the conflict, articles about the conflict, and recent news regarding the conflict.
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| A breakdown of the Boko Haram conflict, as presented by Cartogracy.com |
Sources:
[1] Frank J. Sulloway, "Birth Order, Sibling
Competition, and Human Behavior." In Conceptual Challenges in
Evolutionary Psychology: Innovative Research Strategies, edited by Harmon
R. Holcomb (Dordrecht and Boston
[2]
Sandler, Lauren. "The Only Child: Debunking the Myths" Time.
Time Magazine, 28 July 2010. Web. 4 October
2015. <http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2002530,00.html#ixzz2jdfI1mAh%5D>
I also agree with your guys stance on children. I believe that having children is always kind of expected in society. It seems like there's expectations on how many children to have and how old you should be. In scenarios where a married couple is in their 30s and dont have kids people are like "why dont you have kids? you guys should have a kid! you're not getting any younger!" However, like you said having children is a person decision and shouldnt be forced.
ReplyDeleteMr. Money Mustache has changed my opinion on only children. I have never really given any though to the idea behind only children because I have always had a certain stigma about only children that they are selfish and weird. But Mr Money Mustache has helped me realize if you have only one child that they can be "normal". I do not believe that I will only have one child because I think that it is nice for children to have siblings because they help you create lifelong memories. But now I know that if I am able to only have one child I will be okay with it.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of having one child does have a negative connotation to it, but i agree with Mr. Money Mustache when he states that having one child is a personal decision and is a good decision. Being an only child doesn't make you selfish or spoiled, the way you are raised by your parents is the way you will be. People think the only child gets more than a kid with a brother. I disagree with that because it is all based on the financial state and the parental guidelines on how they want to raise their child. Parents can teach their only child good values with different lessons or teachings.
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