Iin, that i've chosen not to marry /havekids because i am nearsighted?

I've chosen not to have any kids, for a reason many people might call unreasonable. I am nearsighted 6 diopters in my left eye, and 3 diopters in my right. Nearsightedness runs in my family, so this is a GENETIC, heritable deal.
The thing is, I've read up on our current world situation, especially energy resources. Among other HUGE problems we're running out of oil ("Peak Oil")... and using coal will turn the Earth into an overheated, uninhabitable wasteland. Nuclear apparently can't be made to work safely (or if it can, it can't be made politically acceptable until there's no other options, at which time there will be no fossil fuels left to build a nuclear infrastructure.) "Wind and Solar" is a pitiable, feeble, low-enery-return, sick joke... a dog-and-pony show designed for the politicians to say, "hey, we're DOING SOMETHING!"
And fusion? It's just 20 years away, and always will be.
Pollution is completely out of hand... in the Pacific ocean there is now six pounds of PLASTIC TRASH for every pound of plankton. As it breaks down, this plastic releases a stew of chemicals into the seawater, poisoning everything which comes into contact with it. (What will happen to atmospheric CO2 levels/global tempertures/the world's agriculture when all the CO2-consuming plankton in the ocean is dead? You guess.)
The upshot of all this is, we're headed into a new Dark Age. And it will NEVER END as this time... there will be NO Renaissance, EVER. The new Dark Age will be GLOBAL this time, and will probably last for thousands of years... by which time we'll have degenerated into insect-and-booger-eating, probably cannibalistic (what else will there be to hunt?) cave dwellers who have forgotten that our world and its wonders ever existed, "living" (existing actually) on a desolate, resource-depleted Earth which will take approximately 200 million years to regenerate its fossil fuel supply (and you can't have a return of technological society, without fossil fuels to kick-start it!)
Such a world will be no place for nearsighted people (or any other form of disadvantaged people.) Anyone who is less fit/quick-reflexed/sharp-witted than Rambo or Conan The Barbarian will probably be made into a slave, used as some alpha dog's sex-toy, or simply have their head smashed in by their parents at birth. (Slavery will almost certainly return as our Machine Age comes to an end... after all, lots of agricultural workers will be needed. And for centuries to come, the elites will probably still want ELECTRICITY, and will happily force the less powerful to scavenge materials and crank generators to produce it.)
I foresee humanity descending into a nightmare which will never end... and I choose not to father children who will be doomed to a life of slavery, harem whoredom, or beggary. Would you say my choice is a normal one?

Voting Results
42% Normal
Based on 48 votes (20 yes)
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Comments ( 11 )
  • ohplease

    You do know that there exist couples that are childless by choice, don't you?

    Hmm. Sounds to me like maybe you're building a rationalization over your own insecurities, and dare I venture, romantic failures? "I'm not sad and lonely, I'm sad that the world is terrible and getting worse and I'm electing to remain lonely". You're over-rationilizing your life choices to a cold and uncaring Internet. Your insane wall of text rant about the current state of the world and dark predictions for it are undermined in being a concern for you when you also drag your fears about your genetic soundness into it. You should have chosen one or the other. I see you as suffering from feelings of extremely low self-worth, probably depressed in general, and at least a little more paranoid than is healthy for you. Your nearsightedness is heritable. Would your parents have done better to have never made you? Is your life invalidated by this one aspect of your entire being?

    That or truly, genuinely, underneath all your own defense mechanisms, feel that way, then you're probably making the right choice, because you're nuts. Otherwise, please get over it and try to succumb to the vile temptations of taking steps to make yourself happy.

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  • Jessicaahhhh

    I feel the same way too. The world is overpopulated and a terrible place to bring children into. But I'm selfish and I want babies. If the world was a better place would you want to have kids? Maybe this is just your excuse because you feel that it's bad to not want children?

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  • Ono

    Noone is perfect. If you don't want to have kids because you think you won't be a good parent that's ok, but nearsightedness is hardly life threatening.

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  • zchristian

    Well i dont know about all that since we are not there yet also solar power actually is pretty dang good if you place it the right place like sahara...

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  • awerfgaerg

    Very fun read. But as much as everyone loves to speculate (myself included), if you're seriously going to let your genetic nearsightedness, however severe, stop you from having a family, well... I'd urge you, strongly, to consider otherwise.

    Speculation is just that. Speculation. Do you think that, 20 years, 10 years, 5 years, even 1 year before electricity was discovered, someone, literally anyone, actually, could predict the advent of such a profound, life-changing discovery? I know we didn't invent the pacemaker the same day the first light bulb turned on, but the point is that life was drastically, and, in the grand scheme of things, quite suddenly altered by this single event. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if a discovery on a similar scale occurs in the near future, particularly considering the acceleration of our technology development.

    There are much more pressing genetic developments, anyway. You're bound to have some sort of heritable "disadvantage" or another (see: peanut and gluten allergies, diabetes risks, cancer risks, heart disease risks, farsightedness, etc., the list is infinite). I will admit that, at times, I have similar thoughts. There are cases, however, where I think having a child would just be... a really bad idea. There are heritable diseases out there that make procreating for certain individuals, in my opinion, near murder. But nearsightedness is not one of them.

    All in all, I think you're merely detracting from your happiness if you let this hold you back from starting a family.

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  • wistfulmaiden

    Seriously?
    I never thought being near sighted was akin to having cystic fibrosis or sickle cell anemia...

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  • Scabbypatty

    Huh?

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  • Riddler

    It makes sense not to have children because of medical issues. It means you care about the suffering of another person and you do not want to be a direct cause of it. I would say if you still want children though try adoption. They will not have any predetermined health conditions from your end of the gene pool and they will have a parent. So you would be doing a lot of good.

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  • Kittykinz

    I think we're ok for now.... Could they not have laser eye surgery?

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  • noid

    Your view of the future is very depressing! But if you'd rather not have kids no prob. I don't want any either.

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  • lc1988

    Guess I shouldn't either since I have diabetes.

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