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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   10476 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 2, 2024

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I don't understand the distinction between working on having your own kids versus advocating for policies that'd make it easier for you and yours to have more kids. Surely you'd advocate for a raise to help pay for your own kids? How about for lower taxes at a municipal level? How about per-kid payments at a federal level?

Having more kids always results in having more kids. Raises are to get market value for my labor, not because I have kids. Similarly for lower taxes.

Attempting to optimize policies for the societal production of kids will inevitably result in perverse incentives and the effects of Goodhart's law that I'm personally not willing to subsidize and think is shortsighted. Trying to induce procreation with government policies will likely have marginal success and be susceptible to rampant abuse. Sure, nonintervention might result in ethnic replacement or demographic collapse, but these are common enough over recorded history that I don't have any personal problem with it.

To be clear, I'll attempt to get as much resources as needed for me and mine and advocate for strong families and promote the benefits of strong families, but I view the proper course of government and religion as like Agricultural Extension. Provide advice and best courses of action for individuals to take rather than attempting to compel them to do so.

I agree that individual returns to societal-level advocacy are usually small, but again I don't understand where you draw then line between "advocacy for strong families" versus "Attempting to optimize policies for the societal production of kids".

Having more kids always results in having more kids. Raises are to get market value for my labor, not because I have kids.

If having kids is so central, then why spend time trying to get market value for your labor, instead of spending that time having more kids?

nonintervention might result in ethnic replacement or demographic collapse, but these are common enough over recorded history that I don't have any personal problem with it.

Something bad being common doesn't make it OK - it makes it scarier! And both of these things increase the chance that your descendants won't be able to have as many kids as they otherwise would.

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