More Stupidity

In this post, Amanda Marcotte thinks that teenagers choosing to have children in their teenage years might, in fact, be a good thing. She cites an article written by some person who goes by the name Apersand in which we learn that, due to poverty, the healthiest point of a young woman's life might actually be the 17-19 year old range. So why delay giving birth until later when you can do it now and be more healthy. They make the decision on their own. We should celebrate this!

My answer is simply this. When I was a teenager, I once decided that I would build a large, dirt ramp in my back yard, and then I further decided that it would be a good idea to ride my friend's motorcycle down the hill, over the ramp, and into the woods behind. Luckily, my parents intervened, proving once again that the decisions I made as a teenager were rarely good and almost always resulted in either a large amount of pain or a large amount of money (none of which was mine) being spent to recitfy the damage I had caused.

Sure, teenagers in poor situations might think that having a baby when they are still themselves children is a good idea. They might even get jackasses like this Ampersand person to back them up. These jackasses will say, "Go ahead and have children now, because you are poor and will therefore never attain the kind of hapiness which I was given as a child. Having a child might make you happy. The sleepless nights. The constant crying. The continuous bills. This is the only kind of happiness you will ever be allotted in life. You are poor. You are stupid. You are worthless. So have children. I say this because I feel sorry for you, and saying these things alleviates the bad feelings I have. Doing this makes me feel like I actually care about somebody other than myself. So go ahead. Act irresponsibly. Have children when you can't possibly afford to care for them properly. Forget education and work and family and love and all that stuff that I think is bullshit because I just took philosophy 101 and have become enthralled with a Socratic society devoid of family. Just go ahead and satisfy the childlike wants and desires (which are natural, because you are still just a child) while I sit in the corner while I base in my elite intelligence and feigned warm-heartedness."

Here is a newsflash from those of us who have brains: having children when you are still a child is never a good idea. Having children when you can't afford to take care of that child is also not a good idea, either, by the way. Having a child to fulfill your own wants of happiness and fulfillment is also less than smart. All of this is true because these rationalizations are all about what is best for you. And having a child isn't about you; I'ts about the child. The people who tell you these things are idiots. They are themselves still children, mentally speakingt. They are also selfish and cruel because they assume you can never rise above the stiations in life to which we are born. They don't want what's best for you. They want what's best for them and nothing more.

What you need is guidance. What you need is love. What you need is somebody to help you through the tough times that you don't understand. And, occasionally, you need somebody to smack you in the head and say, "what the hell is the matter with you...go do your homework!" This comes from friends. This comes from parents. This comes from teachers and pastors and community members and even from politicians who remember the true definitions of "public servant." Seek out these people will all your will and all your heart, and never listen to anybody who tells you that you will never amount to nothing.

Those people are idiots.