Hugs and ~ma to you Maria.

IOW, she really doesn't think about your kids being human beings when she's writing that post. She's just (probably) copypasting from some other "childfree" forum.

I'm guessing this, yes.

My issue would be less with the "hey, human beings over here!" and more with the idea that it's the same kind of logic that drives people who say things like "why should my taxes support public schools when I don't have any kids in them?" Or "...since I send my kids to private school?"

There's a kind of fundamental disconnect there that doesn't see how children--not just my children but all children--are the future, and that the whole society benefits when those children are well fed, well educated, and healthy.

t /rant

This. Even though I find it unlikely that I'll have children.

My only quibble with the tax break for kids is when people treat their kids like a crop they're raising for tax benefits instead of as human beings. IE, the families with a dozen kids that are herded around like a battalion, not a family.

That is pretty weird, Connie.

Isn't that usually from religious reasons, though? I am pretty sure nobody has 12 kids for the tax benefits. They (the tax benefits, that is) are honestly not that great, and certainly don't outweigh the costs of raising children.

They (the tax benefits, that is) are honestly not that great, and certainly don't outweigh the costs of raising children.

Seriously.

I don't have a car, so I don't know why my taxes have to go to pay for roads and highways.

No, it's not the primary reason, but they certainly gloat over it as an advantage.

I'm quite happy to pay taxes to educate (and, as necessary, help feed and doctor) other people's children. I'd be even happier to pay more taxes so a) those things could be done better/more thoroughly and b) the people who do those things could be recompensed more highly. The effort I put into earning the amount of tax money that I pay into education and etc. is far less than the effort that goes into birthing and raising the kids in question, and should help lead to the sort of society I want to live in 20 years down the road—one with reasonably educated, healthy young adults.

Living in a civilized society costs money. I'm good with that.

My grandmother had eleven kids and they were all just fine. People with a lot of kids probably wanted a lot of kids.