Thank you, J.D. Vance, for a new way to talk about overpopulation and putting wombs in charge of the next election. Far from insulting our child-free friends, your “childless cat ladies” comment has given them a new kind of power. “Child-free” bumper stickers are popping up all over town and “Childless cat lady” buttons are seen lunching at the best local-foods places. Thousands of child-free women weighed in on Tik Tok and have flooded the internet with memes.
According to NPR, Vance’s statement goes back to a 2021 interview with Tucker Carlson. Vance blamed the ills of the country on (as NPR says) “the U.S. was being run by Democrats, corporate oligarchs and ‘a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made …’”
In truth, the child-free are Earth’s best bet for combatting climate change. If we could just whittle down the human population to, say, about half, there would be space for lions and tigers and bears, oh my! It could be like a comeback for the Earth. And maybe a rescue for the birds and fish we’re managing to exterminate every day.
J.D.’s tried to work around the comment by saying that he was being sarcastic and his sarcasm hid the truth that what he really wants is a pro-family America. But his definition of family is severely limited. A man and a woman united for life along with their adorable children. Dad at the office, Mom behind the vacuum cleaner. My children are adorable but my family doesn’t fit in and a growing number of Americans don’t fit in either.
J.D. doesn’t understand that most of us aren’t only Dad, Mom and the kids. In his “Leave-It-To-Beaver” life, the majority of Americans don’t belong. Fewer than half of American households contain a married couple. Many contain kids and a single parent. Some families have two or more dads or two or more moms.
Hooray for all the adults that have helped raise the next generation, whether as parents, step-parents, aunts, uncles or generous neighbors. There have always been enough kids, and enough needs, to go around. Kamala Harris is as pro-family as America gets. While pursuing a career, she helped raise her husband’s son and daughter, creating a family with three loving grown-ups raising and trading off two kids.
Even though some grown-ups are childless by choice or by accident, we’re not running out of kids. What we’re running out of is space and resources. Earth is over-burdened.
In 2023, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 21 species from the Endangered Species list have gone extinct. Ten of the species are birds, with eight from Hawaii. Ten are mussels, two are fish and one is a bat from Guam. What happened? Their habitat became unlivable because of climate change or pollution or their niches were taken over by human development. These critters ran out of space.
Earth is running out of other stuff also: UNICEF says that at least “four billion people — almost two thirds of the world’s population— experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year.”
We’re running out of soil. Professor John Crawford of the University of Sydney told Time magazine that we have about a generation worth of topsoil left. And some of that soil is contaminated with “forever chemicals” that don’t disintegrate and that also cause a whole bunch of human health problems. According to Environmental Working Group, this plague could affect 20% of American farmland.
The list of what we’re running out of is long. I was shocked to hear that our building industries are concerned because we’re running out of sand from fresh-water sources like creeks and rivers. Ocean sand doesn’t work for making concrete and experiments are being done to figure out how to replace sand in concrete with something else. Coffee grounds are a current favorite.
For these shortages and more, a decline in human population would cut the need and be an excellent solution. The demographers who think growth is a benefit need to quit worrying the economists that think social security will go broke without youngsters paying in. The answer is simple: Make the rich folks pay their fair share.
And for the psychologists that think childless folks are unhappy without little ones, do some new studies! According to the Pew Research Center, growing numbers of people are planning to not have children and those people are mostly unconcerned about legacy or loneliness. They are building their own social networks and enjoying career time, individual pursuits and unencumbered leisure.
After his gaffe was publicized, Vance said he’s got “nothin’ against cats, nothin’ against dogs …” but failed to apologize to women. Keep on diggin’, J.D. We see a great future for you in stand-up comedy.
Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History.” Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, October 1, 2024
Blog | Current Issue | Back Issues | Essays | Links
About the Progressive Populist | How to Subscribe | How to Contact Us