There are more than enough unwanted children in the world. People who do not want to have them should not have them just to please someone else, parents, friends, etc. If everyone was supposed to have children they wouldn't have invented birth control.
Carol, prior to the invention of the birth control pill, you could go to prison for even saying the words "birth control." And that included your doctor. You could be fitted for a diaphragm for the sole purpose of preventing the spreading of STD. Condoms were purchased for the same purpose. It didn't matter if the mother's health was in jeopardy if she continued to give birth.
And to some degree, this law served a useful purpose. Male offspring were needed on the farm to help in the fields and barn. Female children were needed in the kitchen to help put up the canned harvest and to feed the field hands.
Then came drought, and an influx of immigrants. Farm families saw the money that could be made in a factory. They saw that males made more income than the women. So they sent their sons off to the city to earn money to send home. Before you knew it, the whole family moved to the city and abandoned the farm. Every member of the family went to work in the factories.
Depending of what country the immigrant came from, determined their skill in building our cities. Boston is a city of red brick. That is when most of the Italians came and built this city. We still have red brick sidewalks that were built in the late and early 1700-1800's. The women went to work in factories that required highly skilled hand-sewing hands. Try to walk on the red brick sidewalks today when it is raining, and it can be very dangerous. They bricks are worn down to smooth and very slippery. But they are very much a part of our history. The same goes for NY, Baltimore and most large coastal cities. They have kept their heritage alive through the skills of the new arrivals. They don't tear down the old red brick buildings, they gut them and put them to a new purpose with smaller rooms. Less room for those large families.
Families from the Baltic states are the farmers of yesterday. That's why you find large German populations in Texas. (Who knew?) And along the eastern seaboard. Think Amish. Countries like Greece and others that relied on the seas for their living, bring us our seafood today. Think Scandinavian countries. Each country brought their own specialized skills. And they passed them down to their kids. Yeah, I think it is not selfish to expect your children to look after you when you are aged. If the parents have done their job right, then it will be a given for them.
I had my family at the end of when having a large family was the norm. Five children, four left. Today, two children are the norm. Three of them drive me crazy. Every single day, (without missing even one) one of them shows up to check up on me. But I keep my mouth shut. The day will come when I will need one of them to show up and check up on me. And they are only doing what I taught them from day one. Family! Always family! Family comes first. It is why animals in the wild will die trying to protect the family of little cubs in the den. And in turn, those cubs grow up and learn how to hunt for the family.
Just a footnote. My kids know that just a phone call does not do. "Ma, how are you doing today?" "Fine, I feel fine." The next thing you know they are getting a phone call from the hospital. Your mother has just had a heart attack.
Okay I am off my soapbox.
And one for all those families that look after each other. The day will come when you will need each other.
Que sera, sera, Whatever will be, will be, The future's not ours to see...
