Far as I know, she doesn't have children yet.
Posted on 08/06/2021 6:51:53 AM PDT by Kaslin
Replacing babies with pets stifles a person’s capacity to give and receive love, as it wrongly directs our greatest earthly affections toward ourselves.
In a recent Fox News piece, sociologist Andrea Laurent-Simpson writes of the emergence of “multispecies families,” explaining that in “child-free families…dogs and cats paw in to fill a longing to nurture” and would-be grandparents “readily shift over to spoiling the granddog as their daughters and sons choose instead to pursue lucrative careers.” But this is neither good nor new.
The ancient historian Plutarch began his life of Pericles with an anecdote about Caesar, who, upon seeing “wealthy foreigners in Rome carrying puppies and young monkeys about in their bosoms and fondling them” asked, “if the women in their country did not bear children.” Plutarch thought this a “princely” rebuke of “those who squander on animals that proneness to love and loving affection which is ours by nature, and which is due only to our fellow-men.”
Another ancient text tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. There is certainly nothing new about treating pets as substitutes for children, though it does seem to be more common of late, a trend that debases us and deforms our pets — literally in some cases. The overbreeding of dogs has, for instance, produced breeds that struggle to breathe or routinely need C-sections to give birth. If these people love dogs, then it is with a selfish and consumerist sort of love.
Of course, we ought to love our pets. But this love must be directed to them as the animals they are, rather than as mere objects for our amusement, or as substitutes for children. I love my dogs and try to take good care of them. They were bred to be loveable, and they are entertaining and affectionate. And they have a place in family life. With the right training and supervision, dogs and kids are great for each other. My daughter really, really loves our dogs. Notably, neither she nor the dogs are confused about who is the human. That sort of disordered affection requires an adult.
Pets may be valuable companions to the lonely and childless, but it is perverse to make this palliative measure into a preference, deliberately rejecting children in favor of a pampered pet. Dogs are capable of giving and receiving affection, but there is a point past which the personalities that enthusiastic owners ascribe to them are anthropomorphic projections. In such cases, pets are treated like animate dolls — repositories of the interpersonal needs and longings of their owners. The substitution of pets for people thereby stifles a person’s capacity to give and receive love, as it wrongly directs our greatest earthly affections toward ourselves.
The proliferation of twee “dog moms” and “fur babies” and “grandpuppies” illustrates American self-indulgence and cultural decadence. Marriage and birth rates are declining as people abandon the basic biological imperative of pairing off and having children. Filling the interpersonal void with dogs is an understandable response to this.
But what we need are other persons. We are, in important ways, incomplete and not fully human on our own. As Aristotle long ago noted, man is a social animal, and a man who can live without others must be either a beast or a god — people who don’t need people aren’t really people.
The Christian may add that in exceptional circumstances or vocations a few people may need to rely entirely on animal companionship and the person of God, but there is no good reason to deliberately turn to beasts in place of persons.
Trying to turn pets into substitute children gives the game away. It is the very old trick of having one’s cake and eating it too. This substitution is an attempt to satisfy the human longings to love and nurture new persons, and to be loved by them in turn, without the labor, responsibility and risk of having children. But there is no substituting for the human person, and even the best of pets is only a shadow of a copy of the reality of human family.
The difference is one of depth. The mature and the wise have pleasures and satisfactions, as well as pains, of which the childish and foolish know nothing. Parenting requires much more self-giving and self-sacrifice than having a pet, but it also provides a fuller and more substantial life. The best dog in the world is nothing compared to the begetting of a new person through the loving union of a mother and father united for life and dedicated to the care of their children.
But for many, this increasingly seems like an impossible ideal. It is easy to direct (deserved) opprobrium at the apostles of the “child-free interspecies family” lifestyle, but this does little to help those who feel that a stable marriage and children are out of reach. Thus, we must work, culturally and politically, to make it easier for people to form and maintain families, and for those who remain single to still be involved in family life. If we do not do this, we may find our nation literally going to the dogs.
would-be grandparents “readily shift over to spoiling the granddog as their daughters and sons choose instead to pursue lucrative careers.”
Reality is that few of these jobs are all that lucrative. Most make much less than 6 figures. They just tend to have no children as they have been sold the lie that being a mid level paper pusher in the multinational widget works & stealing a few ‘experiences’ with a random sex partner on your two week excursion to the resort every year is more fulfilling than being a wife & mother or husband & father.
Another reality is that they have destroyed the economy, school system & society with so many third world immigrants stifling wages & social mobility that many can’t afford children.
Go to Reddit so you can see the underbelly of the world
I had a cat named Samantha as a teenager 30 years ago. She was a tortoiseshell.
It thoroughly sicken me when otherwise intelligent people give human attributes to animals.
They are not your friend or worse, you child, or even worse your dog grandchild or cat great niece.
It’s an animal. Their loyalty to you ends when the food ends.
>>Marriage and birth rates are declining as people abandon the basic biological imperative of pairing off and having children. Filling the interpersonal void with dogs is an understandable response to this.
the third world continues to procreate
Ha ha—I’ve been there and seen that!
“I have cats. I know they are going to die after 10-15 years. Then I go get another one.”
Cycle of life. My sister farms, barn cats love it there. Some older mama-kitties had to be neutered. But natural attrition rates and biths kerp a fairly happy group of around 8 to 10.
One of the few things we should promote in this country is large nuclear families.
The downfall of the nuclear family is a disaster for Western Civilization. Unmarried mothers are the most dependent on government services.
Very few white fathers get anywhere close to the return from the government that they put in.
“Their loyalty to you ends when the food ends.”
Yup...we lock our bedroom door at night...I fear our cat would maul me in the middle of the night (like he’s tried during the middle of the day, if he gets in a funky mood)
“It’s an animal. Their loyalty to you ends when the food ends.”
I don’t believe that is true with a lot of dog breeds (generally the breeds closest to the original wolf) and most horses. You are part of a pack, which includes caring and defending its members.
Perhaps also cats. We had a number of barn cats in Israel that guarded chickens (yes) against asps (Egyptian cobras). They were very good at it, and would torture the crap out of the snakes before killing them.
That said, people are absurd with their animals.
Human attributes ...
As fond as we are of the dog, he’s still a dog. Well behaved, but still a dog. Eats the worst stuff imaginable and loves to roll in hot fresh cow manure.
Sure glad the kids didn’t do that!
Not always so. I’ve seen countless animals (not belonging to me) that simply want love and attention, has nothing to do with food. Many of them have been better than most of my human family members.
Pets are pets.
I have owned them my entire life... I have also been raising children for over 25 years now... one of the most insipid things I ever hear are people referring to themselves or others as “pet parents”...
No, you are not a parent to your pet. You are an owner of your pet.... you can be a caregiver to your pet, but you are NOT a PARENT of your pet(s).
I know owners will sometimes refer to themselves as mommy or daddy when interacting with their pets... that one doesn’t bother me much.. How you decide to interact directly with your pet, as long as you aren’t abusing them is your business. However when you publicly address yourself as a pet “parent” that’s just cringeworthy lunacy.
Pets are not children. I completely understand the misdirection of maternal instinct toward pets women can have, particularly those who for whatever reason don’t or could not have children. I get it. However, parenting and caring for an animal are 2 completely different things.
YES!!! I hate the term fur baby.
I have 2 kids- and my dogs are not them.
again, I agree 1000%.
There is nothing wrong with having pets, getting attached to pets, and valid reasons for people not to have a family.
That said, putting pets on an equal footing with human offspring is definitely not right, and I find the appellation “fur-baby” off-putting, to say the least.
My cats are my cats, I am very fond of them, and jokingly call them “the boys” but...they are not “boys”.
They are cats.
But I will say this: there are humans out there whose lives are worth far less than the lives of nearly any pet I have owned. This is indisputable.
Yep. This guy is a Catholic who used to teach at a Jesuit college, and here is an example of the policy positions from his “think tank”, pushing big subsidies not just for parents, but also for faith-based childcare providers:
https://eppc.org/publication/how-conservatives-could-solve-the-child-care-crunch/
this could be why no women..... cat videos and such.
Depends on the situation. For example, I have two little yappers that bark at the sound of a squirrel farting in the tree two blocks down. They would have to go in the case of a zombie apocalypse. And while there ain't a whole lot of meat on 'em, their hindquarters would at least provide a little protein. :D
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