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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   14699 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026

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I don't think life without children has gotten more fun, the idea that singles today are having more fun than singles at the height of the 60s or even the 80s just doesn't pass the smell test. What I do think is happening is that people are becoming less mature and less "human" in the Bene Gesserit sense of the word.

Having kids has always entailed the making of significant sacrifices in the short to medium term, something I have written about on multiple occasions. Being completely free of responsibilities has always been more "fun" than having responsibilities, the availability of the internet-streaming did not change this. What has changed is people's willingness and/or ability to think beyond the short to medium term and thus make those sacrifices.

Surely singles are not the category we are talking about? Like many I know, I'm in the category of "long-term partner, no children". Either way, why do you think it doesn't pass the smell test? I think electronic entertainment is the most obvious reason why the idea that people in the 60s/80s had at least as much fun is the one that doesn't pass the smell test: when given the choice, people overwhelmingly choose games, modern videos and slop over just about any [activity that was available in the '80s].

The ideal of maturity seems to be that you suffer through childhood preparing for an adulthood that you spend suffering through preparing your children for adulthood then spend a couple of years when you're old playing with your grandkids and then die. It is certainly no surprise people opt out of that if they can.

That "suffering is an intrinsic part of life" is neither a new nor novel insight.

"Suffering is the only part of life" is what you're offering.

what do you imagine you are offering?

Personally I offer nothing. But there are alternatives to the Calvinist ideal that one should be suffering all the time; hedonism and epicureanism are diametrically opposed, for instance.

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