The fact that we’re not having enough babies, the fact that we’re not having enough children, is a crisis in this country. It’s a crisis because it makes our media more miserable…
— from a speech to the Future of American Political Economy Conference in 2021, by author J.D. Vance
I think my parents were either shocked or amused when my older sister came home from college one summer, and announced that she and her new boyfriend had decided not to have children when they got married. If they even decided to get married.
She explained that she had joined the “Zero Population Growth” club at her school.
That’s what happens when you allow your children to attend college. They take to reading books like The Population Bomb, and they engage in late-night dorm room conversations about how no one in their right mind would bring children into a world as frightening as ours.
Luckily, it was a passing phase. She ended up married with three kids.
Since then, the world population has increased to over 8 billion people.
Has that made us happier? I don’t think so.
Also in the news, we come across other interesting facts, like the stories out of China, that their population hit a plateau in 2022. Zero population growth. Not enough babies, and too many old people.
I use the phrase “too many old people” mainly because the old people in China are not as capable as young people are, of assembling cell phones for the American market.
We have similar but slightly different issues over here in America. We’re also having too few babies, and we have too many old people who don’t know how to use a cell phone.
But American conservatives have a plan. In particular, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance has a plan. About the ‘more babies’ part. He wants to allocate additional votes to parents based on the number of children they have.
I first heard mention of J.D. Vance when his book, Hillbilly Elegy, became a best seller. Then, I heard nothing more… until just now, when Donald Trump picked him as his candidate for Vice President. I become mildly interested in a person, when they get nominated for Vice President by a convicted felon.
Almost exactly three years ago — back before he was elected U.S. Senator for Ohio; when he was just another best-selling author — Mr. Vance addressed the ‘Future of American Political Economy Conference’ on the subject of babies. In particular, the subject of American babies.
We are not encouraging babies. And it’s probably the Democrats and the media who are mainly responsible.
Think about all those people. The names are obvious. They’re well-known people. Kamala Harris; Mayor Pete Buttigieg; who’s now the secretary of transportation; Cory Booker; AOC. Think of all these people. They come from different walks of life, different parts of the country. What is the one thing that unites every single one of them? Not a single one of them has any children.
I’m not bothered, when Mr. Vance insinuates that Democrats have a skewed vision for America because they don’t have children. Real, patriotic Americans have big families. They may not have college educations, Mr. Vance told his conference audience, but they have big families. What do Democrats have instead? Big agendas.
But then he criticizes the media…?
It’s not healthy. You see the obsessive, weird, almost humiliating aggressive posture of our media, and you wonder how could these people possibly seem to be so miserable and unhappy? Well, the answer is because they don’t have any kids. Kids are the ultimate way that we find self-meaning in life, whether your own children, your grandchildren, your nieces and nephews.
As a member of “our media”, I must protest. I actually do have kids. The reason I’m obsessive, weird and almost humiliatingly aggressive has nothing to do with the fact that I’m the certified father of three kids. (Which, I believe, is the same number Mr. Vance has?)
Raising kids is not easy. Or cheap. In fact, I can imagine a journalist, or a politician, going off the deep end as a result of having too many kids.
And Mr. Vance may have, himself, gone off the deep end when he attacked the media in a public speech.
Now people will say, and I’m sure The Atlantic and the Washington Post and all the usual suspects will criticize me about this in the coming days…
Well, see… that’s exactly what happened. The media likes to criticize people, but they sure don’t like to be criticized.
However, criticizing the media can apparently get you nominated for Vice President.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.