“U.S. fertility rate at an all-time low 2019. It is now below the rate to replace the current population.”

About time we heard some good news.

I’ve never viewed my last name as anything special. It’s no more special than anyone else’s first, middle, or last name. Unless you’ve done something for the benefit of all mankind, made some discovery, helped others in a tremendous way (Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Harriet Tubman, etc.) then the name on your birth certificate that you happen to have just because your parent(s) happen to have the same name does not make you an extraordinary person in this world. You will be forgotten, your “legacy” will not live on forever. It may even die with you if you keep trying and trying for that boy and end up with nothing but girls. My grandfather has three girls so as far as he goes, his last name died with him. It still lives on with his brothers who had sons, but with my mother and her two sisters, they no longer shared the same last name as my grandfather.

I try to encourage others not to reproduce. I know I am a proponent of leaving people alone and letting them do their own thing, but having children does interfere with the lives of others and I’ll discuss that in another blog. I try and try again to get the word out there that we don’t need more of us wandering this planet, spreading our genes around like seeds. We’re a virus. Bill Hicks said we’re a virus with shoes and I think that fits. Viruses have names and that’s all it appears to be when people talking about wanting someone to carry on their last name. They want them to carry on a virus.

“I want someone to carry on my family name.” Why? Why is that so important? You’re not going to live forever. If you’re lucky you’ll live to see your grandchildren. If you’re really lucky, you’ll live to see your great-grandchildren, but it’s rare that it’ll extend beyond that. You won’t be around to see where that name takes them. In all probability it will take them nowhere. It’ll just be another name among the millions of other names. Just another name in a world that doesn’t care about it or what it does in the future. No record of you ever being here, no record of your offspring ever being here. No one is going to log onto Ancestry and find any significance to tack onto your name. People are looking to see if they were related to one of the people in history that mattered such as Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, Jr. Do you know who Anthony Franklin is? No. You don’t. I just made him up. I’m sure there is an Anthony Franklin out there somewhere, but he’s not going to do anything that’s going to change the world.

Instead of worrying about your name being your legacy, do something worthwhile and let that be your legacy. Do something that helps someone; do something that helps millions of someones. Discover something, invent something, benefit someone or a lot of someones. I don’t know where we got this idea that we need someone to carry on our family name. It doesn’t justify our existence.

“I want everyone to be as comfortable as they can be while they’re waiting to die. Unfortunately, the major part of Western civilization consists of capitalists, whom I regard as unadulterated savages. As long as we have to live in this world, what could be more sensible than to want yourself and others to suffer as little as possible? This will never happen because too many people are unadulterated savages. They’re brutal and inhuman.

Case in point: Why is euthanasia so despised?

Answer: Because too many people are barbaric sons of bitches.

And even in those places where euthanasia is allowed, you can’t be assisted in dying until you’re suffering to the brink of madness. At the Swiss clinic known as Dignitas, where you can be humanely euthanized, or in Oregon, where euthanasia is still legal, though perhaps not for long, you have to jump through a host of hoops to prove you’re mentally lucid. Who the hell is mentally lucid when they’re in such pain that they can hardly think? What a boon to humankind it would be if we offer everyone euthanasia before they are reduced to zombies of misery, so that they could say good-bye to their friends and families with a smile on their face and a clear mind. And what about people who are in mental pain from which they are not likely to recover? Have some fucking mercy. There is nothing in this world as important as to be able to choose to die in a painless and dignified manner, something we do have the ability to bestow on one another.

If euthanasia were decriminalized, it would demonstrate that we had made the greatest evolutionary leap in world history. If we could only arrange society so that we didn’t have to fear every one of us, the throes of agony that routinely precede death, I would be proud to call myself a human being.”

It was some time ago that I expressed my views with someone online about how humans are doing more damage to this planet than good. Quite honestly, it’s fine by me. In a few decades it’s not going to matter to any of us anyway because we’re going to be dead. I know some of you out there are entertaining some fantasies of living to be 200, and I am sincerely sorry to break the news to you that that’s just not going to happen. Even if you live to be 80 your mind could go on vacation and never come back, which is the case for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s.

My solution to this problem is to stop the problem at the source and stop reproducing. We are the ones causing all of these issues: global warming, pollution, mass extinctions, etc. That’s not to say that the planet itself would do its own part in cleaning itself up, which it does from time to time. The planet has a way of getting rid of resources it doesn’t need anymore. Many species of plants and animals alike have gone extinct just because the planet decided “fuck them” one day. One day the planet is going to get tired of us and tell us to go fuck ourselves as well. We can’t stop it, but we’re arrogant enough to think we can.

The person I was discussing earlier has had five children. She has had five children because she believes that out of those five one is going to make the world a better place for future generations. At the rate we’re going, I don’t see that as likely. I don’t see how the problem with the world (humans) can be solved by adding more problems (humans) to the world. To me it seems like you’re trying to put out a fire with gasoline. With every child you have that’s more food and water being used, more resources being expunged. Babies require so much from their mothers that it does more harm than good. We’re greedy by nature so when the child grows up it’s going to be just as self-centered as everyone else on this planet.

If you truly want to do your part and help the planet then stop with this line of thinking that adding more people to it is going to fix it. With a global population of over 7 billion right now and not one thing being accomplished, another billion or two billion isn’t going to do the world or society as a whole any favors. The honorable thing for us to do is either hope for a mass extinction to happen at once or we just continue to live our lives without reproducing until we die out naturally.

I started this blog up once again to delve into my philosophical views regarding antinatalism since that has been the one constant belief I’ve held onto for so many years now. For those who are unfamiliar, antinatalism is a philosophical position that assigns a negative value to birth. Whereas most people jump for joy at the news someone gives that they are having a baby, I am perplexed and asking them “Why?” Why would you subject something that doesn’t exist to existence?

I don’t remember feeling any pain or suffering of any kind before I was born. I don’t remember anything before I was born. It was only after coming into this world that I started feeling these things: loneliness, despair, depression, pain. If I didn’t exist then I wouldn’t have to feel any of these. I suppose a case can be made for the pleasures in life, but do they outweigh the pain? I guess it depends on the individual and their circumstances.

I haven’t heard a single, rational argument as to why people should be brought into the world. It all boils down to two things: selfishness or a mistake – a person’s selfish need to bring a life into the world that never asked to be brought into the world, or the person just didn’t know how birth control worked and believes that abortion is somehow more cruel than subjecting a human to a life of torment and disarray.

We’re thrown into the world without having a say in the matter because we can’t speak. We can’t say “no.” Someone has already made the decision for us. Some of us grow up resenting that fact, but suicide is not an option because as much as we believe not having children prevents them from hurting, we don’t want to hurt those who gave us life. Parents go to great lengths to protect their children from pain and suffering, not realizing that the only way they could have possibly avoided all that pain and suffering that’s inevitable was to not give birth to their children from the start.

There is also the issue of consent. No one consents to being born. We have to give consent for surgery, for sex, for virtually everything. It seems immoral to toss someone into the world, confusing and corrupt as it is without their consent. Can babies give their consent? Absolutely not, but it seems to me that when something is crying when it first comes into the world, it’s not especially happy to be here. It’s all downhill from there, kiddo.

Facebook has become the place for old people. It all started going downhill when our parents and grandparents were allowed to set up their accounts. Now we have dinosaurs on the site, expressing their opinions when they no longer matter. I’m sorry, but they don’t. Once you reach a certain age no one cares about your opinion and you’re too old to change anything in the world anyway. Enjoy “Wheel of Fortune” and wait for the Reaper.

It may sounds cruel, but hear me out. I find these particular people to be cruel, and it’s because of the things I see them post on social media. One person asked what it was we could do to make our world a better place, to which another replied, “I would make sure every child is cared for and loved.” That’s fine and good, but why stop at children? Why can’t all people be cared for and loved? Don’t we all deserve love? I replied to this person’s comment with “Why not every person, regardless of age?”

“Because I feel that it all starts with kids. It would be ideal to have that all during our lives, but I would at least want to give everyone a great chance at a good life, if that makes sense.”

“I just always wonder what the cut-off age is for when we stop caring about people. Everyone wants to care for children, but at what age do we just throw in the towel and say ‘Fuck em, let em starve and die’?”

I get confused when it comes to people’s concern for the unborn. Why do we worry ourselves so much with humans that don’t exist and leaving behind a better world for them? How about giving the humans already here a better world for the time they have left. Once you’re born your clock starts ticking. Hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second, it ticks. You’re losing time. We all are. It’s like the line in Alice in Chains’ song “We Die Young”: “Some say we’re born into the grave.” All the time we spend trying to live longer and avoid death, seemingly oblivious to the fact that once we’re born and brought into this world we start to die.

The honorable, most compassionate thing we can do for one another is take care of our fellow living human beings and just ride out this whole “life” thing. Make things less shitty for our fellow man before we all one day check out. Stop worrying about bringing more humans into the world to clean up our mess and instead stop leaving a fucking mess in the first place.

What do I know? I’m just a blogger with a laptop, internet access, and an opinion. When has the opinion of someone online ever changed someone else’s mind?

I’ve said numerous profound and hilarious things in my time on this earthly vessel, but I don’t think any of them have been truer than the time I hit “enter” on the keyboard after typing, “The one thing the Internet has done is it has made normal, ordinary people believe that anyone gives a solitary fuck what they think.” Vulgar? Sure. You can’t tell me that’s not some deep shit right there, though.

It came to me while I was blogging on another site where members did not welcome opposing views. Step in line with what they believed or feel the wrath of their ever-growing block list. Ah, yes. The silent treatment via Internet. It works well in reality so why not bring it into the virtual world?

No one debates unless it’s in a setting for a debate such as a classroom or an auditorium. I think the idea of a debate went out the window (along with dignity, what shred of intellect we had left as a species, and decency) with the 2016 presidential debates. The 2016 debates were nothing more than Internet arguments brought to our televisions live and in HD. They came fully equipped with some ass clown not knowing anything, name calling, and everything else you’ve come to know and love in debates from blog sites, message boards, and Facebook groups.

This idea that we can change someone’s belief or conviction about a topic by basically being a bigger cunt than they are is funny to me because it has never worked, and yet we keep trying. Maybe we’re not trying to change someone’s belief. Maybe we’re just trying to shout our own at the person as loud as we possibly can. It’s funny that those with the most information are the guiltiest of all when it comes to this, though.

I know my opinion on matters will never make a difference, but I have Internet access and an opinion therefore that makes me important as well. That’s why I’m dedicating most of this blog to the philosophy of antinatalism because we don’t need to have any more of you. Ideally, we need to get rid of a lot of you that we already do have in the first place.

I’m not sure if the two are related, but as I mentioned at the end of my last post I was recently diagnosed as having Bipolar 2. It was a surprise and it wasn’t if that makes sense. I’ve known something was off in my head since my teens. I knew my moods weren’t just normal teenage angst and that knowledge was confirmed as I got older. The anger and hatred from my teens just dwindled down into depression more than anything. Not wanting to wake up and face the day and just not wanting to wake up at all became the norm for me.

My father was bipolar and he self-medicated with alcohol. He was a full-blown alcoholic up until his death at the age of 39. May 23, 2019 marked 15 years since his suicide. My mom and I have always known my sister was bipolar because of the rash decisions she tends to make without thinking things through as well as her temper. With me it’s been different. I don’t have mania. I told my psychiatrist it’s like there’s a straight line on which I’m trying to keep my balance and at any moment I can slip and fall into a depression that lasts for weeks or months. That was the remark that made us re-think my diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder. We both discovered that instead I suffer from Bipolar 2 Disorder, which is different from Bipolar 1, the one people tend to associate with more when they think “bipolar.”

According to “Medical News Today” Bipolar 2 is described as such:

“People with bipolar II disorder do not experience true manic episodes, where their mood and energy levels are so high that it causes trouble with work and socializing and may cause psychosis. Some individuals with bipolar I disorder have to be hospitalized during periods of mania.

“However, this does not make bipolar II disorder less severe than bipolar I disorder. In bipolar II disorder, the depressive episodes are similar to those in bipolar I disorder and cause significant disruption to the person’s daily life for an extended time.”

My symptoms fit as well. I feel agitated and get agitated easily. I often have an inability or decreased need to sleep, which is followed by sleeping the day away (12+ hours of non-stop sleeping.) I notice that I talk too much during my episodes of hypomania. I used to drink a shit ton, which I’ve stopped doing just as a personal choice. My marijuana usage has decreased as well since I’ve been prescribed different medication to help with my mood.

Of course we all know the depressive symptoms: feelings of sadness, emptiness, and hopelessness; loss of interest in activities (I enjoy going for walks at least twice a day, which I’d not been doing for quite some time); decreased energy; weight loss or weight gain (I’ve always struggled with my weight. I tend to eat my feelings); and suicidal thoughts or tendencies. For some time all I was thinking about was, “What if I just ended it all? It’d be simple and easy to do. I have a gun. Just one pull of the trigger and it all goes away.”

I introduced Zeal and Ardor in my last post as a way of leading into this. I’m the King of the Segue.

First of all, I don’t appreciate you posting a first blog on my site. To me that just says you’re assuming your first blog on my site is going to be better than my first blog on my site. You may very well be correct in that assumption; however, it was still very rude and pretentious of you. I can tolerate rude, but pretentiousness is something you and I may have to draw blood over down the line somewhere. Your move, dick holes.

I’ve blogged off and on since 2001. I went back several months ago to log into that very first site where I ever blogged, and I’m surprised I turned out to be the fine, upstanding, well adjusted, American citizen today. That was riddled with sarcasm and a touch of truth if you can figure that one out. I’m too stoned to tell at the moment.

That is one thing about me: I support the legalization of marijuana. I support the legalization of all drugs. Whatever you want to put into your own body is no business of anyone else. Don’t think that I’m just going to do stoned ramblings on this site, either. I have logical, sane, sober thoughts as well that I need to put down before I decide today’s not the day for another cup of coffee. It’s worth mentioning that I used to be a heavy drinker and would find myself blogging away while drinking from a bottle of bourbon only to not remember writing it the next day, but still leaving it posted because fuck it was great.

I’d write more for my first blog, but I’m really into this thing I’ve got streaming right now on *insert streaming service here* (I don’t advertise for anyone. Fuck you if you don’t like it.)

This is your first warning, WordPress.