Every generation has had to deal with some version of this, either they could see it coming or they got blindsided by something. Not saying that makes it ok, it just happens.
Throughout history, generation to generation changes were mostly negligible and whether the kids or parents had it easier came down to luck. People still had kids when communities raided their neighbours, when they started conquering instead of just raping and pillaging, when kings demanded soldiers fight their wars and labourers farm their fields, when they were literally denied any freedom and beaten severely or killed if they tried to push back, when large men in boats would just show up randomly at communities anywhere along the coast, when people with swords or guns went around the world saying “worship our god or die”. Or when the black plague was wiping out anywhere from 20 to 80% of a region’s population and doing it with some regularity.
There might not have been an expectation that their kids might have to suffer more than they did but suffering has been one of the most constant components of the human existence. I think the biggest difference is a relative lack of resilience (or at least the inability to imagine the resilience that will be necessary to continue on, since I also believe that we’re better at handling change than we think we are going into it).
The generations that do handle this and the ones that follow will probably look back at this “it’s cruel to bring a kid into this world” mindset with contempt. People often think about babies and children when considering future generations, but these ones will probably grow up into tougher adults than most of us are.
Every generation has had to deal with some version of this, either they could see it coming or they got blindsided by something. Not saying that makes it ok, it just happens.
Has there been a time in history where they expected their offspring to live a harder life then themselves though?
Throughout history, generation to generation changes were mostly negligible and whether the kids or parents had it easier came down to luck. People still had kids when communities raided their neighbours, when they started conquering instead of just raping and pillaging, when kings demanded soldiers fight their wars and labourers farm their fields, when they were literally denied any freedom and beaten severely or killed if they tried to push back, when large men in boats would just show up randomly at communities anywhere along the coast, when people with swords or guns went around the world saying “worship our god or die”. Or when the black plague was wiping out anywhere from 20 to 80% of a region’s population and doing it with some regularity.
There might not have been an expectation that their kids might have to suffer more than they did but suffering has been one of the most constant components of the human existence. I think the biggest difference is a relative lack of resilience (or at least the inability to imagine the resilience that will be necessary to continue on, since I also believe that we’re better at handling change than we think we are going into it).
The generations that do handle this and the ones that follow will probably look back at this “it’s cruel to bring a kid into this world” mindset with contempt. People often think about babies and children when considering future generations, but these ones will probably grow up into tougher adults than most of us are.
The difference is we all own tiny devices that give us live updates on the horrors of the world. The other generations were blissfully ignorant.
That’s true. We’ve seen this coming for decades and still can’t manage to stop it.