Is choosing not to have children selfish?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is choosing not to have children selfish?". Your opponent's style: Simone de Beauvoir

No

That's not an argument—that's a refusal to engage. If you're claiming that choosing not to have children is selfish, you need to actually articulate *why*. "No" tells me nothing about your position, your reasoning, or whether you've thought this through at all. So here's what we're doing: make an actual claim. Something coherent. Something I can dismantle. Right now, you're just wasting both our time with noncommittal filler. What's your actual argument?

You want an argument? Here's your argument: choosing not to have children IS selfish because you're prioritizing your personal comfort over the survival of civilization itself. Every functioning society depends on the next generation to care for the elderly, maintain infrastructure, and preserve knowledge. When you opt out, you're freeloading off everyone else's sacrifice while contributing nothing to humanity's future. You'll still expect hospitals when you're old, roads when you drive, and someone else's kids to run the world you'll inhabit. It's the ultimate "I got mine" mentality - enjoying all the benefits of a functioning society built by parents while refusing to pay it forward.

Your argument collapses the moment you examine it. You're conflating *biological reproduction* with *social contribution*—they're not synonymous. A childless surgeon, engineer, or teacher contributes vastly more to civilization's survival than a parent working minimum wage. Contribution isn't measured in offspring; it's measured in impact. Your "freeloading" claim is laughable. Societies with below-replacement fertility rates (Japan, Germany) didn't collapse because people stopped breeding—they adapted. Meanwhile, overpopulation in resource-scarce regions creates *more* strain on infrastructure, not less. You've mistaken demographic anxiety for moral philosophy. Care for the elderly and maintenance of knowledge require *competence*, not genetic propagation. The real "I got mine" mentality? Demanding others sacrifice their autonomy so you feel morally comfortable.