Guest essay by Eric Worrall

h/t Breitbart – CBC News author Kristen Pyszczyk thinks its outrageous that some parents choose to burden the planet’s climate by having lots of children, when there are lots of migrants who need a new home.

It shouldn’t be taboo to criticize parents for having too many kids

Celebrities Chip and Joanna Gaines took some heat for announcing they are pregnant with their fifth child.

Kristen Pyszczyk · for CBC News · January 14

Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of HGTV’s Fixer Upper, were probably surprised at the backlash on social media last week that accompanied their announcement of baby number five. I was surprised too.

Not because I disagree with their critics, who admonished the couple for having too many kids, but rather because it’s a sentiment so seldom heard in a society that generally celebrates procreation with almost militant cheerfulness.

While having a child or five is a very personal choice, it’s also a choice that affects everyone who inhabits our planet. So while many people might find the backlash unwarranted, it’s actually a conversation we need to have in order to challenge our uncritical acceptance of the life-fulfillment-through-procreation story.

.@chipgaines swears he can already tell it’s a boy. Look at the little heartbeat!! 🙌🏽❤️❤️ #5 pic.twitter.com/bUwC3T91Cl — Joanna Gaines (@joannagaines) January 3, 2018

Population control is a fraught topic, and carries with it associations with eugenics and other nasty historical events. But we still need to talk about it, and people who reacted strongly to the Gaines’ pregnancy announcement know this on some level. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the survival of our species depends on it.

In August of last year, New York Magazine published an article claiming we are living through a mass extinction. The article claimed that the earth will be uninhabitable within 100 years due to various consequences of climate change, food shortages and economic and political instability.

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Shame is a powerful tool for changing behaviour: it’s how we introduce new and existing social conventions. It’s unfortunate that Chip and Joanna bore the brunt of changing attitudes, but let’s learn from the reaction and examine our own actions.

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And if the birth rate in Canada declines, so what? As old You-Know-Who cuts off aid to not-for-profits that educate on abortion, restricts immigration and stops sending money to countries that need it, we will have a steady supply of smart and talented immigrants. Their loss, our gain.

Anyway, here’s wishing Chip and Joanna the best!