Wow, I really didn't expect that to be controversial. Have none of you ever seen people making snide remarks in grocery stores about people who have more children than they can control? If that's the kind of shit you say, then yes, sooner or later a child of a large family will overhear you. Maybe not directly, maybe it's just your kid going up to their kid on the playground and saying "My mom said that your mom has more kids than brains." While we're grossly exaggerating what people actually said, saying it's okay to think of human beings as wastes of space as long as we don't tell them to their face is like saying "Being racist is fine, as long as you're tactful about it. What they won't know won't hurt them."
It all comes back to the old game of controlling reproductive rights. If you're saying that only wealthy people whose philosophies you agree with should have more than N kids, then you're saying that those other people - the ones with the wrong values and inferior lifestyles - shouldn't. If God wanted them to breed, he'd have given them a four bedroom house and your enlightened opinions on everything, right?
QG is right, it
is judgey concern trolling. If you want to go shit on overweight people because it's socially acceptable to do so, go ahead, but don't try to kid yourself that you're being a crusader for social justice by redirecting food from people that overeat to people that are starving.
If you were actually seriously concerned that someone had more children than they could provide for - you'd offer to help provide for the children. If your concern only extends to mocking the parents, that's not concern, that's being judgmental.
Frankly, it makes more sense to mock people for promoting the paradigm of "children are entirely at the mercy of they're biogenitors' ability to provide for them" in the first place. Why don't we offer universal childcare, give parents both maternity and paternity leave, and extend school breakfast to school dinner?
The next time you feel the need to tell someone off for having so many kids...
I feel like this attack is aimed at me ... I never feel the need to tell someone off for having many kids.
-2 points for reading comprehension.
Furthermore, why would anyone talk to a child about the parent's parenting skills? I cannot see a possible reason for that. Even when your intent is to hurt the child that is not a very good technique. Not even psychotics would do that.
Man we go to different grocery stores. Of the top of my head, evangelicals tend to gravitate towards this sort script:
"Is that a lip piercing? You're going to hell. Stop trying to be punky rebel and go to church like your parents."
"My parents said it was okay."
"Your parents are AGENTS OF SATAN."
Furthermore, why would anyone talk to a child about the parent's parenting skills? I cannot see a possible reason for that. Even when your intent is to hurt the child that is not a very good technique. Not even psychotics would do that.
Hey, he's been waiting WEEKS to spring that line, most likely.
Can we analyze this comment? There's no knowledge transfer - all you've got is vaguely derisive speculation. It's pure phatic communication. Not that there's anything wrong with that, phatic communication is really important in building relationships and communities. It's just that with this post, I get the feeling that you're trying to build relationships at my expense. Like trying to build an in-group out-group paradigm.