The conclusion of this thread will engage some people, and I hope it does. We wealthy, mostly white folks never get tired of bragging about our “below replacement level fertility,” as if it excuses our continued natural increase. 1/9 @PopnMatters @GeorgeMonbiot
Never mind each one of us has many times emissions of those other people. Global impact of our breeding is much larger than a lot of people imagine. Why do so many people in the rich world insist, often furiously, that our level of procreation has no environmental impact? 2/9
Generalised deflection is an insufficient answer. What we see is white people patting ourselves on our backs for breeding reasonably, and excusing our excessive eco-footprint as we do. Our first two spawn have no impact: just replacing ourselves. 3/9
We all absorb belief systems of which we are only vaguely aware. We reproduce ideas and each other unwittingly, often when drunk. When we grow up with white privilege, it’s hard to recognize white supremacy and exceptionalism. 4/9
Colonialism brought death control without birth control, causing populations to out grow food supplies, and giving us a chance to donate food and hold concerts to feel good about ourselves. We deserve concerts and if it assuages our guilt, all the better. 5/9
We’ve unilaterally decided CO2 emissions are the measure of eco-impact, so the loss of biodiversity in regions where human emissions are low aren’t important. Likewise, human cost of women being forced to produce more offspring than they want or can care for is low in CO2. 6/9
Poverty and high birth rates create a demographic trap for whole nations. We smugly ignore pleas for support of local NGOs working to provide reproductive health services, confident we can’t be called racist for it. Patriarchal oppression is invisible. 7/9
So what is the disturbing conclusion? Why do so many people in rich nations claim that their redundant breeding isn’t the biggest environmental problem? It’s …#whiteprivilege. I’m not claiming that most of those who over-excuse wealthy procreation are intentional racists. 8/9
It is possible to entertain subconscious racist beliefs without actively wishing to discriminate against people of colour, but when a couple insists on creating a new high-impact human or two with their specific DNA, it does bring racism right down to the personal level. 9/9
