A recent New York Post article by Melanie Notkin titled, "Childish men to blame for women having kids late in life", seems to be getting a lot of attention since it flips the script by blaming men instead of Women. And yes, the article is partially correct. But we need to ask if it is really such a bad thing for Women to delay (or forego) motherhood in the world we live in today, and also ask why so many men are being viewed as less-than-ideal partners and fathers these days.
One thing is certain: the "everybody must procreate" mentality needs to end yesterday. Only a fool or an economist (same difference) would believe that infinite growth on a finite world is possible or even desirable. That is the logic of a Ponzi scheme. If anything, our overpopulated world needs to shrink. And the cost of raising a child these days is, not coincidentally, becoming increasingly prohibitive.
That said, we need to be brutally honest about the fact that men are becoming increasingly redundant. Women are rising while men are falling. And it's only a matter of time before Women reclaim their rightful place as the new leaders of the free world, as the late, great Buckminster Fuller predicted. So why are so many people of both primary genders still trying to prop up traditional gender roles?
As I had discussed in a previous article about the decline in (straight) marriage in America, the underlying reason for this phenomenon (and the tendency to delay parenthood as well) is indeed increasing male redundancy. From technology to globalization to union-busting to increased economic inequality and precarity to increased female empowerment, men in general are falling away and falling apart as we speak. Women have already crossed the proverbial Rubicon at this point, and it is time to accept this truth for once.
Also, as Bucky famously noted even back in 1970, with today's technology, the idea that "everybody and their mother must work for a living" has become specious and outdated. We could damn well afford for everyone on this planet to have a guaranteed decent standard of living if we wanted, but the oligarchs at the top would rather hoard the world's massive wealth for themselves. Perhaps his first prediction is a prerequisite for his second one?
