Comments on: Grandpa’s Little Helper

By: Kerry Howley » Blog Archive » The Cruel Tyranny of the Childless

Kerry Howley » Blog Archive » The Cruel Tyranny of the Childless — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:56:10 +0000

[...] been enjoying this back and forth over Bryan Caplan’s assertion that he’d rather his hypothetical daughter [...]

By: Floccina

Floccina — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:23:36 +0000

Will Wilkinson
Because he evidently fails to inhabit the perspective of the ordinary 16 y/o pregnant girl. Many of them do become grandmothers at, say, 35. Which, judging from the large body of evidence about teen mothers, tends to be good for no one involved.

Was that true in the past.

By: Floccina

Floccina — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:22:07 +0000

But for most sixteen year-olds, the cost of having a kid is simply immense, possibly destroying any serious ambitions before they develop.

How much of those negative outcomes are relative. If it was the norm for middle class and rich people to start having children at 16 would it still be so destructive.

By: Will Wilkinson

Will Wilkinson — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 00:08:43 +0000

push, Because he evidently fails to inhabit the perspective of the ordinary 16 y/o pregnant girl. Many of them do become grandmothers at, say, 35. Which, judging from the large body of evidence about teen mothers, tends to be good for no one involved.

By: pushmedia1

pushmedia1 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:23:02 +0000

Gendered? Women don’t become grandmothers?

By: GU

GU — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:35:04 +0000

Bryan’s more general point, that we should look at the costs and benefits of having children over an entire lifetime, and not just the short-term, is helpful.

That being said, I also found this post by Bryan pretty strange. Maybe he is sick of all his liberal, atheist, childless friends degrading breeders like him all of the time?

By: nicole

nicole — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:16:25 +0000

Brian has mentioned a couple times as well that his next book is going to be about this. As someone who really enjoyed The Myth of the Rational Voter, but will most likely remain childless, I am eagerly awaiting reading his full-length argument.