Some Comments on Having Another Child
This Commentary was Generated on September 24, 2023 at 'ParentData' Substack
These are comments in which I was involved. Please consider the full set at the author, Emily Oster’s Substack page, here:
It looks as though a good bit has been removed from the original post at ‘ParentData’. Please correct me if that is incorrect. I feel that that excision is too bad. I hope not, but perhaps it is — if it is — a form of censorship and cultural cancellation. There is important material to work through in just these comments. In particular, the linked video presenting the interview of Nick Rockefeller by Aaron Russo was very informative regarding feminism and “how power works” in the real world. The linked video of Barbara Spectre is a classic that [will] never be forgotten.
I clipped off distracting commenter icons and the “Share” feature. I left the likes because that gives you an insight into the minds of the readers.
Please examine for yourself the content of the commentary. Always, feel free to comment and I will try to engage with your regarding your comment or question.
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
Posing the question of "whether to have children or not" itself reveals a profound flaw -- and I would not hesitate to add, "corruption" -- in thinking, particularly if artificial means of thwarting conception and birth are being embraced. This is perhaps one of the greatest evils, especially of our post-modern time, of narcissistic self-destruction and ethno-cultural replacement, hidden by an insidious propaganda of smiling, young married couples --- or faux-happy, pseudo-fulfilled career girls with cats.
"Let's see, are we open to the arrival of another child, or do we purchase new furniture for the living room and new countertops in the kitchen? The old stuff is getting so boring."
Like
Reply (6)
What an unnecessary, unhelpful and misplaced comment. If you have nothing to contribute, leave.
Like (26)
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
Gee, Caroline, I think it was very well placed and very helpful. Genuine compassion is not always (may even is rarely) well received. Notice that I am not asking YOU to leave. You are, perhaps, part of a set of people who are an existential threat to me, my family, my people, my nation and my civilization as revealed by your wanting to make me disappear. That is a threat to conversation as means of getting along and of establishing policy for common life..
Like
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
8 hrs ago·edited 8 hrs ago
Thank you H.B. At least I get one "like." It really goes to show that on all of social Media, such as it is, and Right and Left and in the middle, that people are not quite ready for real discussion. Large numbers of "Likes" accrued here for a commenter that utterly abused me and never provided a substantive reply to the comments of mine to which they chose to take great offense. Only Sarah made an attempt to engage my ideas, for which I am at least grateful and I salute her for that. I am sure that she still disagrees with me. I accept that.
Thinking is not merely an act of exuding emotion[al] venom and hackneyed forms of vituperation. Thinking is difficult. Dealing with unpleasant emotions is difficult. I feel greatly for people who are suffering from the condition of the world as it is today. There is terrible abuse falling on us all like refuse poured out of a window into a medieval alleyway.
I understand, too, that many women and men are in turmoil inside of themselves. That grieves me whether people choose to believe me or not. Women AND men are tempted into seeing that inner turmoil written onto the external story of their lives. Sadly, they project that pain into the FACT of another person's existence, especially like their newborn children. Ironically, one commenter snidely asked me, "Who hurt you [me]?"
This raises a critical topic with regard to having children and the decision to have children. "How do human persons handle the inevitable and regrettable things that happen to them?" If we are going to identify things in our exterior that are unjust (and there is plenty), "What kind of society is it that prevents evils and fosters what the Greeks called, The Good?" "What voices will you permit to enter the discussion and the world of one's own thoughts?" "Would you or I recognize the Good Society if it were here before us?"
Thanks again for the "Like."
Like
Reply
This doesn’t even make sense
Like (11)
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
Well, Jacob, I provided at least some detail and explanation of the direction of my thinking. I invite you to do the same. Tell, me, what is it that you cannot make sense of?
Like
Reply
Wow, who hurt you?
Liked (5)
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
Dear "Dmhkfni," Is this really all the better that you can do is to insinuate some preposterous hypothesis that you purport to explain my commentary? Perhaps you had a moment of irrationality --- we all do, me included, but I believe not in this instance.
Please, take some time and develop your thoughts and let's have a conversation. I look forward to it.
All the best.
Like
Reply (2)
We welcome and encourage different perspectives on the topics we share at ParentData. However, we expect the conversation to be respectful and ask that you refrain from name-calling/inappropriate language. Thank you.
Like
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
Dear Parent Data Team. Thank you. But, I assume that you are surely not accusing me of "name calling" are you? I certainly hope not. That would be a terrible misrepresentation, would it not? I believe that I calmly endured some pretty blatant, unilateral and unjustified name calling. In fact, but -- correct me otherwise -- but did you challenge those instances when people called me names? Really, you must honestly say that I have been a very civil gentleman from start to finish.
It is a feature of our time that many people live in something of a bubble. When they encounter life, perspectives, opinions and evidence outside of their bubble, they suffer the consequences of their self-isolation. They are perplexed upon having to examine their own ideas and their own emotionally-based preferences. They even threaten others (as someone did here, but nobly retracted that threat). They lash out in anger at those, like me, who bring a different message. They name call while calling other[s] to task for what others did not do, but merely are and merely possess different opinions. I pray that this is not you and that this is not what you are tacitly enabling by choosing to post your comment in reply to mine.[] I will assume you comment is for general instruction.
Most people commenting online are also unfamiliar with reading closely and critically, examining logic and writing with precision. I understand this and, from years of classroom experience with students, forg[a]ve them and even encourage[d] them [] engage [even] more! I can take it with patience and aplomb, I hope as you recognize here. They will discover more about themselves and their world by truly interacting with others --- especially with those with whom they disagree.
Best wishes to you and to those here who, hopefully, will continue to grow in their intellectual life as well all can and need to do.
Thank you and thank you for a good Substack page!
Like
Reply
As I said below, when you parrot back far-right theories like the Great Replacement, you have already lost credibility as an independent thinker worthy of a logical debate.
Like (2)
Reply (2)
Gotta love all the favorite far right prefixes used in one comment.. “post-xxx”, “ethnic-xxxx”, “pseudo-xxx”.. Sounds exactly like all the “pseudo-intellectuals” that all the far right conspiracy theorists believe themselves to be 😂😂
Like (3)
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
"Gotta love." Well, I suppose you do love it because you called me a "pseudo-intellectual[]." What makes me [] not really an intellectual? Maybe I am not, after all. At least there are plenty of much more intelligent people than me --- though intelligence has only a partial, if not odd, relationship to being an intellectual. Loving learning and trying to make sense of things, trying to think more clearly and rigorously, reading and listening to the ideas of others (even those that challenge you), writing to examine your own thoughts and inviting others publicly to examine them as well, these things are most like some of the stuff of being an intellectual. [There are certainly intellectuals who are much more powerful thinkers than me. That is not difficult to accomplish.]
To identify something with the prefix 'pseudo-' is simply an attempt to wrest back a term that has morphed, perhaps even into its opposite, or has acquired confusing baggage, or has been intentionally co-opted or weaponized contrary to an original meaning. I invite readers here to read Saul Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals', or several authors from the Frankfort School, for insights into this process.
Like
Reply
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
Dear "Dmhkfni," I have spent decades in study, both once as a progressivist and Leftie, and now --- not so much. Perhaps I am being self-blinded as some sort of universal human condition (and methinks perhaps that includes the possibility for you), but I do not tend to belief that I "parrot." (By the way, does anyone on the Left ever "parrot.?") No, "Dmhkfni," my opinions are hard earned and quite my own.
One might wonder if you are, by your technique of dismissal, not merely avoiding discussing the topic at hand.
Like
Reply (1)
Dude, I have wasted too much of my time on the internet trying to change people’s opinions. The only real lesson I learned is that comment sections are not the right forum for real discourse of any sort. These days I am not even bothered to type out my user name - wtf is “dmhkfni”? Was it assigned to me by Substack? Did my toddler type that out? No idea! Don’t care! So yeah I have no intention of “discussing the topic at hand” - other than calling you out for quoting the Great Replacement!
Like
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
Dear "Dmhkfni," I am not sure what to make of your reply, honestly. I would agree with you about "changing other people's opinions." But I would not rank that as a very important goal for having a conversation. Frankly, I simply like other human beings. I am fascinated by their minds, as much as they allow me to share it with them, and mine vice versa. I forget who [here] commented about the intellectual life (I believe in a not particularly friendly way), but communicating is a big part of the intellectual life. I suppose one could work of equations in an isolated shack in the frozen tundra, never to be seen or heard from again, but that would take a big part of the fun out of discovering something.
If, as you say, "The only real lesson I learned is that comment sections are not the right forum for real discourse of any sort," then why comment at all? I am puzzled. I genuinely hope that you can comment and engage all kinds of people --- including those who agree with you! But simply having people co-emote and sending you "Likes" is not real discourse.
Here, I offered ( and still do) offer you a chance at real discourse.
And what is this "end-zone celebration" that you seem to be doing about the replacement of white Europeans in America, not to mention New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Canada and -- of all places -- Europe? I put the topic on the table, what is the great revelation that you had that I criticized ethnic replacement? Why would someone be for replacement of white people, already a minority in the world and dwindling? The Southern Poverty Law Center has not made it a secret that they chart the decline, as I mentioned. Joe Biden, I also pointed out clearly and explicitly stated replacement as a fact and praised its acceleration! So, where am I missing something? How about Barbara Spectre's now well-known video crowing over the replacement of Europeans in Europe?
See here:
.
What would people think if they watched a video where someone were, with such cringe-worthy glee, to speak (God forbid) of eliminating black Africans from Africa, indigenous Americans from America, Chinese from China, Indians from India, Russians from Russia, Ukrainians from the Ukraine and so on? Would we not all join in a chorus of rebuke? Again I ask, what are you praising yourself for, exactly?
I do hope the troubles you conveyed are greatly lessening soon (with my evermore imprecise typing skills, I accidentally wrote, "lessoning," but that humorous typo would also be appropriate and would apply to each and every one of us).
Have a good weekend if I do not hear from you again.
Expand full comment
Like
Reply
If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Not do I think you're being insensitive, but I think you missed the point. The question isn't should I have kids, it's I just had an incredibly difficult and traumatic pregnancy and post partum experience.
Like (4)
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
I am truly sorry for your troubles, as you report them. Life is -- indeed -- challenging. It is filled with woes for all of us. Again, you have my best wishes for you. Since you identify some of those difficulties as post-partum in nature, I will assume that you have a newborn child. That, by itself, should give you great solace and joy I am sure. Congratulations! I hope you have many more children and add greatly to the happiness of you life!
It would be worth while to examine this sentence from another angle, as well: "The question isn't should I have kids, it's I just had an incredibly difficult and traumatic pregnancy and post partum experience." But, indeed, whether or not to have children IS the question that the author put on the table for us to discuss.
So, do I understand that you are trying to shut me up, Sunder? So, let me ask, are you another censoring type? You say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." This is not an appropriate statement in a venue for intellectual conversation for mature adults.
Contrary to your insinuation, there was nothing impolite in what I said. You may not agree with what I said, or you may have an enculturated, propagandized emotional reaction against it, but that is something for you to work with. It says nothing about my behavior, intention or goodwill. Generally speaking, this is why I think many women (I did not say "all") are ill-suited for true intellectual conversation or for the demands of the workplace, at least as they find themselves at this particular time. You exemplified that in very sharp delineations for us.
You have my sincerre best wishes and prayers for you and your family.
Like
Reply
Anybody who uses “post-modern” and “ethnic-cultural replacement” in one sentence pretty much consumes too many far-right conspiracy theories.
Like (3)
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
Hi "Dmhkfni." Your single sentence reveals your choice to avoid a discussion of the topic. Your use of "conspiracy theories" is -- as it often is the case for sloppy thinking of people along the whole spectrum from right to left, without accuracy, substance or utility. It is like the people who talk about nutty speculations regarding Martian flying saucers landing on the White House or a flat earth referring to these topics as "conspiracy theories." It shows an inability to use words properly. These ideas are goofy, but as far as I can decipher, there are no conspiracies, properly defined, involved.
So, post-modernism is a real thing. It refers to the collection of ideas especially advanced by John Dewey and recently championed by Richard Rorty. Some call it "Neo-pragmatism." Lots of people working in philosophy departments get well-paid for advancing these ideas. So, who exactly are the conspirators in this story? Why do you indirectly, at least, impute non-existence to this philosophical trend and political strategy.
The SPLC keeps track of ethnic-replacement of white Europeans. Joe Biden (hardly a "far-right conspiracy theorist") identified it as definitely occurring and celebrated it as being a good thing. If someone accepts what they are recognizing as the case (whether it is or is not), can they not comment on what these players are identifying as a reality and either reject the hypothesis, or the merits of the content of the hypothesis, without being subjected to dismissal, name-calling or worse, viz., political oppression and cancellation?
Like
Reply
Miriam Webster’s definition of Trolling: to antagonize (others) online by deliberately posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content.
I couldn’t find this blog’s policy on trolls, but I reported this post.
Like (2)
Reply (3)
From this “PhD’s” website: “Dave Schmitt and Joe Atwill leapfrog from the manipulated events of 2020, the so-called COVID crisis, the riots the Stolen Election of 2020 in the U.S., and utilize biological and historical common sense to encourage the public to regain a healthy awareness of the larger threat“
….
Wow.
Like (1)
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
Dear Rebecca, I am glad that you were "wowed." Please, tell me more.
Like
Reply
I stand corrected. Doesn’t look like there are any policies regarding trolls. But I will call it like I see it.
Example of irrelevant content: “or faux-happy, pseudo-fulfilled career girls with cats” has little relationship to the primary post.
Like (1)
Reply (1)
Writes American Siberia - David Schmit…
Sarah, I appreciate your civil reply.
As for your choice to characterize my expressions as "trolling" does not -- as far as I can tell -- hold any evidence. the unfortunate thing about simply calling something by that term, or otherwise dismissing someone's viewpoints, deprives both them and you of the opportunity of interaction.
Let's see if I can attempt a reply to your clearly stated comment.
As in any seriously advanced philosophical or political discussion, it is assumed that counter examples almost always exist and that it becomes burdensome to discussion to point that out in every sentence.
It is, I believe and many believe likewise, that many young women have forgone family during their youth, or have forgone children or a sizeable family, to their regret later in life. Unfortunately, the clock of life does not rewind. I have many things I would do differently, as probably most people would admit as well. In addition to my free choices that I regret, I also lacked knowledge. I lacked even the countering ideas to select from. Again, I take responsibility for much -- or your could say "all" if that makes any sense -- but still it would have been nice if there had been those who would have had the courage to enable me to see other viewpoints, even if I was hostile to them. Then, by all means, have at it, Dave! May your "picks" and "takes" your chances --- and pay severely in some cases.
I was a teacher. I saw people make a variety of choices. You could say that I empowered them to make the choices that they did and empowered them to pursue those pathways. I believe very much in human freedom to act and to learn. Now, later in life, I see many once-young people -- my neighbors -- suffering through the consequences of their choices. What very much bothers me, to state it another way, is that I do not believe that they made their choices with fully-informed consent. I tried often, but I was one voice against a wall of a very dominating culture, whether you believe that this wall represented the randomized, natural develop of things or whether you believe that there are powerful directing and influencing forces.
I cannot say how much significance to attach to possible clues like the following video, how could I know for sure? But it does merit examination, I think:
So, getting back to the question of whether my comment was irrelevant or not, all I can say is that -- apart for discussion-ending claims that relevance is in the eye of the beholder -- it seems that the comment was vitally relevant. That is, if you accept that some people make a choice regarding the basis for their general openness to child-rearing based on broad principles beyond immediate convenience and preferences, then I should be as free to comment regarding those "big ideas"precisely like the article, here, provided for us by the author. I do say that her provision was a valuable one. My hat is off to her.
It would actually be helpful and appreciated if the author chimed in, especially now that some of the initial rancor has subsided.
Thanks, Sarah.
Expand full comment
Like
Reply
© 2023 Emily Oster
__________________________
A classic…
David, I did not read this whole thread but I loved everything you said that I did read. I just read a comment you made on Vigilant Fox, a site I rarely comment on, and really don't read much anymore. Nonetheless, I wanted to see your originals. I comment here because "Indraak S." brought up Emily Oster and - boom - you have an experience with her page. Funny how that happens.