Reply #65: THANK YOU.

[HughBeaumont]

I have a stepteen. That will be all. But no, kids are suppposedly like potato chips: "Betcha can't just have ONE!".

Uh, yes I can. Got snipped. The end. Kids cost money, myself included. That's not a knock on kids or the decision to have them, it's THE TRUTH. Some more than others. I don't know how I'm going to pay for this one's college and these spoutin' idiots want me to have another one so I can be in a CANYON of debt instead of just a mere ditch.

Here's the thing about having a newborn: what kind of WORLD are you choosing to put them in? Any smidgen of stability and security we may have had in the past just does not exist anymore where you can honestly say "everything will work itself out just fine". Not that we ever had much of it before (what with Americans simply not able to say "no" to CEO governments and Friedman economics for three decades, but that's another thread), but we truly DO not have it at ALL now.

Job? What job? Security? Sorry, not on this CEO's watch. Savings? Sorry, there's bills to pay and they're only increasing, unlike your wages. College? Mortgage? When did you ever think you would hear yourself say "What's the difference" when talking about those two entities? Yeah, tell your kid to get a master's degree or a PhD; that ain't-a gonna stop him/her from getting FIRED anyway if they cost too much or there isn't enough profit this quarter. Health care? Gee, too bad your newborn came out with/your child acquired through no fault of his own a ridiculously costly condition which we at Blue/Kaiser/AetCigMana of course will not cover. Pre-existing conditions and all . . . sucks to be you (snicker). I mean, dude. Did you think we were in the business for our HEALTH (much less your health)? Hope you have a couple hundred grand socked away somewhere . . .

Maybe if life was easier and mere survival wasn't almost completely tied to employment, then I'd consider it. But we live in America, where if you want to get ahead, you'd better be willing to COUGH UP, and I'm not just talkin' cold germs here. Sad to say, you can prep and prep and do everything right and STILL not be immune from greedy CEO bastardry. Unless you're a multi-millionaire NOT invested with Bernie Madoff, you're plain and simple not off the hook. I can't bring a kid into this world under those kinds of conditions, sorry.