<story><title>Come here and work on hard problems – except the ones on our doorstep</title><url>http://programmingisterrible.com/post/50421878989/come-here-and-work-on-hard-problems-except-the-ones</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>downandout</author><text>This speaks to a larger problem: The world simply doesn&apos;t need many of the people born into it.  Parents in the US have children for recreational purposes - child birth rates do not fluctuate with the demand for labor.  These kids grow up, and many of them wind up sleeping on the streets of their chosen city or more commonly just barely living paycheck-to-paycheck, because there is no societal need for them.  This bears itself out in statistics: 25% of households have a net worth of zero or less (negative net worth). 22% of children in the US live in homes below the poverty line.&lt;p&gt;In our world, the needs of many can be met by the work of a few.  Only those few will prosper, while the rest languish. The harsh reality is that prospective parents that don&apos;t have anything to pass onto their children need to take a hard look at whether they should be having children, given that going forward there may very well be no way for those children to earn a living.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>noonespecial</author><text>You need a great number of many to create a pool large enough to get those precious few that can advance humanity enough to do all of that providing by the few.&lt;p&gt;Humanity &lt;i&gt;could&lt;/i&gt; be two people living in a grass hut finding just enough berries to eat each day, but it wouldn&apos;t be much fun.</text></comment>
<story><title>Come here and work on hard problems – except the ones on our doorstep</title><url>http://programmingisterrible.com/post/50421878989/come-here-and-work-on-hard-problems-except-the-ones</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>downandout</author><text>This speaks to a larger problem: The world simply doesn&apos;t need many of the people born into it.  Parents in the US have children for recreational purposes - child birth rates do not fluctuate with the demand for labor.  These kids grow up, and many of them wind up sleeping on the streets of their chosen city or more commonly just barely living paycheck-to-paycheck, because there is no societal need for them.  This bears itself out in statistics: 25% of households have a net worth of zero or less (negative net worth). 22% of children in the US live in homes below the poverty line.&lt;p&gt;In our world, the needs of many can be met by the work of a few.  Only those few will prosper, while the rest languish. The harsh reality is that prospective parents that don&apos;t have anything to pass onto their children need to take a hard look at whether they should be having children, given that going forward there may very well be no way for those children to earn a living.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>downandout</author><text>FYI whomever is downvoting this - you can downvote it all you want.  It doesn&apos;t make it any less true. I&apos;ll take the hit on my karma points on the off chance it makes someone think, even for a second, about not perpetrating the selfish act of cruelty that is bringing a child into an impoverished existence.</text></comment>