‘To be forced to abandon so basic an instinct simply because of a desire to be a good citizen seems unfair.’ Photo: by Fé Ngô on Unsplash
Baby talk: Nathan Wrench balances public concerns and personal feelings
‘I wish the speakers had just reached out to her, human to human.’
We had spent the last few hours listening as the panel debated the policies, behavioural changes and science of the climate breakdown. Every speaker had reinforced the message that the climate emergency was now upon us, and at the upper end of the worst-case models. The civilisation we had grown up in was over; a new one must now be built. Then a young woman stood to ask a big question: ‘Should I have a baby?’ She wanted us to consider whether it was an act of recklessness to bring into the world yet another mouth to feed. Given the resources required of another human life, was it an act of extreme selfishness even to contemplate such an act?
