Posted on 11/19/2010 7:04:51 AM PST by markomalley
On Wednesday's Joy Behar Show on HLN, the host asked about parents who are "overpopulating" the world, and guest Helen Fisher, a Rutgers University professor, compared having a large family to littering, "as if we've got too many people on this planet to begin with." Fisher also bizarrely stated that "for billions of years, we [humans] ended up having one or two children per woman."
Host Joy Behar devoted the last two segments of her 9 pm Eastern hour program to how women are trending away from having children. Besides Fisher, she brought on author Rachel Shukert and Laura Scott, who manages the "Childless By Choice Project" blog. Near the middle of the second segment, the host blurred the line between typical large families, most of whom have children by natural means, and celebrities such as the "Octo-Mom" and Kate Gosselin and her family. This is where Fisher made her extreme leftist remark:
BEHAR: What about these people who are overpopulating- the Gosselins, the octo-moms- these people who have been vitro with hundreds of things in there- you know what I mean? What's up with that?
[Video embedded at the link]
SHUKERT: You know, I think it's so interesting how the way that- like their kids have sort of- like, taken the role of kids in the olden days, when they all had to work as farmhands-
BEHAR: Yeah. Now, they're on reality shows-
SHUKERT: Now, they're on reality shows, instead of in the field.
BEHAR: Yeah, exactly. I mean, what do you make of that?
FISHER: Well, I think it's as if- I mean, now, people regard that as littering, and- you know, as if we've got too many people on this planet to begin with.
SHUKERT: That's true.
FISHER: So, it's interesting that-
SHUKERT: I was thinking how much greener it is to not have kids. That he feels he can have steaks and things because he doesn't have kids. It's like I can drive a Hummer. I don't have a kid.
FISHER: Well, you know, for billions of years, we ended up having one or two children per woman, and we're moving back to that now, one or two children per woman.
One wonders what the professor meant by her "billions of years" remark, as the human species obviously hasn't been around that long.
Earlier, at the beginning of the second segment, Behar asked the Rutgers professor, "Why do you suppose, Helen, people say that there's something odd about not having kid?"
Fisher first touted the obvious genetic disadvantage not having children carries, but then gushed over the innovation of making that very decision: "There is something odd about it- I mean, from a Darwin evolutionary perspective, you're choosing to not pass on your DNA on into tomorrow, and in terms of- you know, genetic survival, you have lost....On the other hand, times have changed so dramatically, and we're finally at a time in human evolution when women can make that choice, and I think that's what's a thrill."
[H/t: Creative Minority Report blog]
What? I don’t get to eat a steak or drive a vehicle of my choosing anymore? Says who? Some brain dead, obnoxious, Marxist loud mouth talk show host?
Frankly, I’m happy there are so many idiots making these personal “sacrifices” on behalf of the planet.
Then I don’t have to.
If they want to get into a “greener than thou” pissing contest, let ‘em. I feel absolutely no guilt when I toss a huge hunk of dead cow on the barbie! Yum!
Perhaps Joy would feel more comfortable in China...
Joy...the George Washngton Bridge is nearby...just sayin’...
Joy...the George Washington Bridge is nearby...just sayin’...
I've been doing my genealogy. To begin with, my ancestors had 5 or more children. Usually 2 or 3 lived to adulthood. Except for Grandpa Hutch who had 20 and 2 wives.
Fisher is an anthropologist. And an idiot.
I checked, she does have a daughter who is getting married or is already married. I wonder if she is encouraging her daughter not to have children.
I've chosen not to have children. Does that mean that I am by definition selfish, lazy, and irresponsible?
Hm...I wasn't aware that my choice not to reproduce was a "curse".
Joy Behar’s mom put out a toxic waste dump.
Amen!
There is nothing that requires more self sacrifice from a woman than having children. Of course, I have more moments of bliss in one day (it started with a huge gummy smile from my 3 month old at 4:30 am) than these women have in a year.
That depends on your reasons for doing so. If you did so in order to have more play time and more toys, I think it would apply.
Hey joyless bear, I BET you would never tell that to a muzzie or an illegal alien.
Those children are valuable in God’s eyes, too. However, making them contributing members of society would require being “judgmental” about their parents’ “choices,” and using incentives to promote better - yes, better! - ways of life. Fwiw, the children of Octomom or the Gosselins seem just as likely to turn out badly as those of TaShaQuanda in Detroit. Bad parenting is bad parenting, even when they’re on the cover of “People” magazine.
I was just pointing out the double standard in the media when comments like this are made. Whites are not “overpopulating” anything, they are depopulating, so who else can she be talking about? What if Palin had said it?
She is just bitter that even a turkey baster wouldn’t want to get near that, at that a man.
You're correct about that, and it's true that leftists go ballistic over the handful of white citizens who have very large families, while ignoring the much more statistically relevant welfare cases.
"Overpopulation" is just another stupid line.
That's one thing, but to gey the net 2 children/woman surving to maturity, you would also have to abolish the FDA, EPA, CDC (and otherletter combinations)
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