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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 6, 2023

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With the exception of the infertile (or those whose spouse is infertile) and extremely ugly, I really don’t have much sympathy for people who don’t have children.

Hate to be hopping back on the hobbyhorse again. No, it's not the Hock. It's this:

Most people, except those who work in the healthcare industry or are connected to it in some way, simply do not understand that ~5% of the population are poor candidates for marriage and children. If you're looking at people from 18 to 45, most of that isn't because they wound up being burned in a house fire but are otherwise healthy and mostly functional. No. It's health problems that make people unattractive; you don't see them because they don't get out much. Two percent of people are intellectually disabled, one percent of people are schizophrenic, add in other physical disabilities, autoimmune conditions, and "is just a giant raging asshole" to the mix, and you have your five percent. Most of these people don't get out much.

As for the end of life situation: my parents have made it very clear to me and my younger sibling that they did not want us to spend time and energy taking care of them but rather that they wanted to go into a nursing home. I'd think that in a modern society we'd just adapt to increasing lifespan (but not similarly increased healthspan) by having essentially assisted suicide as more of a live option. I might drink hemlock if I couldn't wipe my own ass anymore.