The unborn children that could help save the planet | Letters

Richard Stallman on the arguments for not having babiesI feel for Laurie Penny, who is caught between pressure to have children and pressing reasons not to have them ('Women shouldn't apologise for the pitter-patter of tiny carbon footprints', Review, 29 July). However, a solution is staring her in the face: respond to the pressure by citing the pressing reasons. Various global disasters are plausibly likely to occur in a few decades - see The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells. Even if Wallace-Wells' article overestimates and only half of those disasters really occur, humans will be in for a rough time starting around mid-century. Thus, any man or woman who thinks of having children now should ask perself whether it is right to condemn them to go through that. Each baby not made is a step away from those disasters.Richard StallmanCambridge, Massachusettso Join the debate - email guardian.letters@theguardian.com Continue reading...