The solution? Lock up the screens and read to your kids
.
A group of Singaporean researchers who studied a cohort of 168 children for more than a decade found that those exposed to screens in infancy (before two years of age) showed accelerated maturation of brain networks involved in visual processing and cognitive control. That faster specialization, the researchers suggest, was associated with slower decision-making in childhood, and in turn, higher anxiety symptoms in adolescence.
"During normal development, brain networks gradually become more specialised over time," according to the study's lead author Dr. Huang Pei. "However, in children with high screen exposure, the networks controlling vision and cognition specialised faster, before they had developed the efficient connections needed for complex thinking."
The result, Huang said, is limited brain flexibility and mental resilience, leaving children less adaptable later in life, as evidenced by higher anxiety scores in cohort kids who had more screen time before age 2.
Whether you know it or not, you’re in a battle. The battle does not end. It doesn’t stop because you’re busy. I’ve heard it said, “If the devil can’t make you bad he’ll make you busy.”
Maybe you don’t have an hour to have a full-on Bible study with your son. But you can use these four ideas to intentionally disciple him — whether you have ten minutes or two hours. These four ideas are the framework you can use to maximize time with your boys. //
- Listen: Build the Relationship
The point here is this: connect with your son.
- Read: Get into God’s Word
Take a moment to read the Bible yourself. Don’t get hung up on which part of the Bible. Make notes about what is significant to you. Then, share your heart with your son. It’s okay not to have all of the answers. You are revealing another world to your child. It does not have to be long or elaborate. In fact, shorter is probably better.
- Act: Apply the Word
This is the “so what” part. Maybe the verse you’re on is about behavior change. Maybe it’s about service or how to treat your neighbor. Do your best to apply truth in love.
Whenever possible live out what you read with your son.
4 Pray: Talk with God
Close time with your son with prayer, simply talking with God about what you’re learning and praying for, and with your son. Additionally, keeping a journal of prayer requests and seeing together the Lord answer can be a powerful means to see God work overtime.
Even without the influence of groups like 764, sowing chaos appears to be occurring on a daily basis through the insidious influence of actors manipulating bytes and bots — all to destroy our children. How do you bring down a society? You destroy its young: mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The transgender cult has been in collusion for years to destroy them through mutilating their bodies and minds. Now, we have all forms of nefarious individuals undermining them through screens. The destruction of identity and purpose is the main goal. //
Shortly before his murder, Charlie Kirk had an apt response on why a foundation of religion is a major factor in saving Western civilization.
You have to try to point them toward ultimate purposes and toward getting back to the church, getting back to faith, getting married, having children. That is the type of conservatism that I represent, and I'm trying to paint a picture of virtue, of lifting people up, not just staying angry.
Charlie Kirk ably represented this, and it is part of the reason why he was murdered. So, we must rise and be like Charlie. Wise people are recognizing this and acting accordingly. With groups like 764 and adversarial threats seemingly on every side, we need God's hand and God's help more than ever before.
So, what are the benefits of parenting? The most obvious are the emotional ones. These are hard to quantify, of course, but are certainly detectable in polling.
A new survey by the Institute for Family Studies, for example, found that mothers, particularly married mothers, are more likely than non-parents to report that they are “very happy.” Both married moms and unmarried moms were much more likely than women without children to report that their life has a “clear sense of purpose.” The survey’s authors concluded: “Despite the challenges associated with family life for women—including more stress and less time for oneself—there is no question that marriage and motherhood are linked to greater female flourishing on many other fronts.” Similarly, the regret rate for having children is remarkably low; very few people with children would not have had kids if they had the chance to do things over again. As psychologist Paul Bloom writes, “[t]he love we usually have toward our children means that our choice to have them has value above and beyond whatever effect they have on our happiness and meaning.” //
According to one study of 200,000 men and women in 86 countries, “mothers and fathers over 50 are generally happier than their childless peers, no matter how numerous their offspring.” In other words, children may be a long-term investment in happiness. Putting in the work to nurture a young baby pays off in middle and old age, as proud parents watch their adult children launch careers, have children of their own, and reunite around the family table for Thanksgiving.
At the margins, parenting can come with truly tremendous costs. In the book Better than OK: Finding Joy as a Special Needs Parent, Kelly Mantoan writes about the challenges of homeschooling five children, two of whom have a severe degenerative disorder that requires around-the-clock, hands-on care. Yet Mantoan writes that, through accepting her children’s diagnoses, “I am a stronger, more humble, sacrificial, and faith-filled person than I was before I started this journey.”. //
This is one of the most powerful paradoxes of parenting: the costs and the benefits are two sides of the same coin.
Zhang operated a surrogacy agency called Mark Surrogacy from their mansion. The agency purportedly marketed itself as an institution assisting American and international couples struggling to conceive through surrogacy. However, investigations revealed a startling truth: The only couple the agency served was Zhang and Xuan themselves. They are the biological parents of 21 children born through surrogacy. Of these children, fifteen lived with them in the mansion under the care of a few nannies, while friends and family supposedly looked after the other six in different locations. //
It is crucial to highlight that Xuan must be a member of the CCP to serve on the People’s Congress. U.S. immigration law prohibits immigrants with “membership in or affiliation with the Communist or any other totalitarian party” from becoming naturalized citizens. Thus, it is curious how Xuan, a high-ranking CCP member linked to genocide in Xinjiang, was able to obtain U.S. citizenship. //
In addition to concerns about immigration, Xuan and Zhang’s case highlights the ethical, legal, and moral dilemmas surrounding the commercial surrogacy industry, which has turned a deeply human experience into a commodity. As one research paper concludes, “Surrogacy degrades a pregnancy to a service and a baby to a product.” //
Surrogacy is illegal in many countries, including China, but the United States has no federal restrictions. Commercial surrogacy is legal in most states, including California. This legal landscape, along with birthright citizenship, makes the U.S. a popular destination for international surrogacy, attracting foreign couples who seek American women to help fulfill their dreams of parenthood. //
Those who advocate for immoral policies such as unchecked immigration or the commodification of women’s bodies should understand that horrifying stories like this are what happens when we take these policies to their logical end, and that cases like Zhang and Xuan will only become more common.
TheAmerican1
10 hours ago
When my son was little, at bedtime, I would scoop him up, throw him on my shoulders, run up the steps, and toss him into bed. We did this for years.
And then one day we stopped. I don't remember the specific date. I suppose it was a matter of him getting too big.
But that's a bittersweet part of parenting. The special things you do with your kids? One day, you won't. There won't be any fanfare. It'll just stop. And all you'll have are memories.
My son's an adult now, and he lives far from us. We see him a couple times a year. Would we like to see him more? Of course. But he's happy and doing well and, most importantly, living a proper life and contributing positively to society.
Not a day passes when one of us doesn't use one of his toddler words -- the unique phrasing or terms that kids delightfully create -- and, thank goodness, we live in an age when he's only a FaceTime call away. So, in a way, he's still with us.
There was an old Army commercial with this tagline: "It's the toughest job you'll ever love." I think that applies to parenting, too. No, it's not easy. It's not supposed to be. Nothing worthwhile ever is.
So, yes, if you are a parent of young ones, I know precisely what you're going through. But as they say, "The days are long, but the years fly by." Yeah, that's spot-on. If you're a parent, you know how difficult it can be. But before you know it, there's your kid turning into a young adult, walking across the stage, diploma in hand, going to college, becoming an adult...
Being a good father is the most important thing I'll ever do.
Let's teach kids a thing or two!
children need to be nourished by three socio/emotional staples as they grow: Mother’s love, Father’s love, and stability. //
We are raising a generation of children who are experiencing family breakdown on a mass scale, not due to tragedy but because of adult intentionality. Adult desire, identity, feelings, and romantic pursuits have been elevated above the fundamental right of children to be known and loved by their own mother and father. Some of these kids will recognize that brokenness and work to reverse it. Many will be so damaged they will perpetuate the cycle in their personal lives … or their professional lives.
The culture has shifted, and it can be hard to go against the tide. However, we need people who go into the trades far more than we need college graduates. I think a revitalized America will rely far more on plumbers, electricians, and farmers rather than degreed people who can still barely tie their shoes, but can write 5,000 words on intersectionality during a two-minute commercial break. With that, I wanted to direct you to a website that I have been reading for about three years. This is a wonderful place to go, and it's full of podcasts, articles, skill-generating how-to's, and graphic novel-type illustrations that have a taste from the ol' Wayback Machine. I love it.
The Art of Manliness is not a hangout for misogynists or chauvinists, as it might sound to some, but rather a place that teaches skills, practices, and thought processes for men. Men of any age. And it's certainly not exclusive to men, because women would benefit from learning how to perform a snappy J-Turn as much as any of us who might need to get out of trouble fast. But if you want to learn how to build a campfire with one match or understand parenting styles that work, this site is a great resource. Want to know how to wear a polo without looking like a drip? Art of Manliness. Land a plane in an emergency? Art of Manliness. Develop the savoir-faire of James Bond? You guessed it....
https://www.artofmanliness.com/
https://www.artofmanliness.com/skills/manly-know-how/how-to-perform-a-j-turn/
https://www.artofmanliness.com/skills/manly-know-how/how-to-light-a-fire-with-just-one-match/
https://www.artofmanliness.com/character/advice/good-life-method/
Knowing how to tie a tie is one of the most essential skills a man must know.
Child Protective Services (CPS) investigations are supposed to be about safeguarding children from harm. In every state, the standard CPS protocol for an investigation is, among other things, to conduct a home visit and to interview each child by themselves. However, these tactics can themselves inflict significant trauma upon the very children they aim to protect.¹ These harms are increasingly recognized by legal analysts,² child welfare caseworkers and supervisors, tribal workers and supervisors, police officers and detectives, foster parents, birthparents, teachers and school counselors, medical examiners, mental health providers, juvenile court staff, child welfare trainers, and foster youth.³
While in situations of real abuse the cost of the harm created should be offset by the benefit of the harm prevented, this is not at all the case when the investigation is based on false or overblown allegations. In such situations, the effect of the standard CPS investigation means that the child, not to mention their family, ends up more harmed, not less.
Investigations cause immediate shock, confusion, and fear.
The very nature of a CPS investigation, especially in the home, can surprise, shock, and traumatize children.⁴ Investigations are unexpected and can be quite sudden.⁵ According to research from Portland State University's Center for Improvement of Child and Family Services, children frequently report feelings of “surprise, shock, and chaos” during investigations.⁶ Many develop a sense of “powerlessness, helplessness,” and even “guilt or failure.”⁷ This is increased when the investigations commence in the middle of the night.⁸
Many parents recount their children crying and sobbing after interviews, demonstrating the immediate emotional impact of these investigations.⁹ Children do not understand what is going on or what is going to happen.¹⁰ This leads to fear that their parents will be arrested¹¹ or even that the children will be taken away.¹²
Children are afraid of being intruded upon by strangers. //
The standard CPS investigatory approach causes significant harm to the children involved. When investigations stem from false or overblown allegations, this harm is completely unjustifiable and adverse to the aim of protecting children.
Instead, CPS workers who seek to protect children should not rush to enter a home or conduct child interviews without first weighing the harms to determine whether interviews are really necessary. Very often, there are other methods available of determining children are safe without employing these more harmful tactics. When trauma to children can be avoided, it should be.
A one-time payout of $5,000 — an amount that wouldn’t even cover the cost of one of my births — isn’t a life raft, but a pat on the head as families struggle to stay afloat amid rising costs, child-care shortages and a culture that undervalues parenthood.
American families don’t need a flashy push present. We need durable policy change.
We need tax reform rooted in research, reflecting the real needs of modern mothers and fathers, and support that empowers families to dream bigger, not just survive.
Several Republicans on Capitol Hill are thinking deeply about how to ease that burden. //
Moore’s Family First Act, for example, won’t solve the whole problem, but it sends the right message: families matter.
As Moore told me, “Moving toward a pro-family culture will require considering both immediate incentives and lasting policy change.”. //
Which brings me to a moment last week, halfway around the world, that somehow felt very close to home: Vice President JD Vance‘s X post of a perfectly imperfect photo of himself, his wife Usha and their squirming, squinting children on their official trip to India.
The caption? “With three little kids staring into the sun, this was actually the best photo we got at the Taj Mahal today” — followed by a laughing emoji.
That’s the kind of positive, pro-family image Americans need to see more of: messy, real and beautiful.
No.1 Predictor of successful children -- seeing their father loving his mother
People often look at countries like Liberia and focus on the trauma of war, the chaos, the displacement. But here’s what I see: our government does the same thing in America when it tears families apart. The trauma may not be caused by civil war, but the suffering is eerily similar.
The child welfare system uses its power to forcibly remove children from their parents, just like I was separated from my siblings. These children are often placed with strangers, stripped from their community, their culture, and everything they know. Siblings are split up. Families are erased. And all of it is done in the name of safety.
Let’s be honest. This isn’t safety. It’s state-sanctioned separation. And it’s causing a level of trauma that mirrors the effects of war.
The answer to humanity’s civilizational crisis isn’t the multiplication of fatherless children; the solution is men who are truly willing to be fathers. //
Musk reduces fatherhood to passing along his genes and putting food on the table. He’s not alone in this. Forty percent of babies in the United States are born out of wedlock, and there are plenty of non-billionaire absentee dads. But a father isn’t just a DNA-donor and bring-home-the-bacon sort of person. A father is supposed to be a man-of-the-house, hug-crying-kids-in-the-middle-of-the-night, beat-the-tar-out-of-anyone-who-tries-to-hurt-you sort of person. //
When a baby comes into the world, he can do little aside from crying, and the father should often be near enough to hear those cries — even though the mother is the primary caretaker and the father will likely spend long hours away at work. A father should change his babies’ diapers and know his kids’ quirks and witness their day-to-day triumphs and temper tantrums.
Children should be able to yell, “Dad!” far too loudly and dramatically for whatever the problem is and not be met with silence or their mother telling them that Dad isn’t here, again. They should be able to watch their dad shave, kiss their mother, use sarcasm, and even engage in other less exemplary behaviors (like playing video games all night, for example) on a regular basis. It’s fun and heart-warming to see Musk trot the globe with X and other offspring in tow, but trips to the Oval Office don’t make up for perennial absence. //
But Musk misunderstands human nature and human capital. Humans are spiritual beings with emotions and a will — not mere “boot loaders” for an omniscient AI chatbot. His children need to be trained and mentored, not just handed the gift of intelligence and told, “Have fun saving humanity, kids.” And to the degree that Musk’s intelligence is heritable, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. The key input is Musk himself, not his genetics, and Musk isn’t scalable in the way his genes are.
Without his personal involvement as a father, Musk’s children could just as easily become evil geniuses as saviors of civilization. More important, children aren’t simply units of production in the war to save humanity, or at least, they shouldn’t be. Not to dads. Yes, they will fight the state’s wars, pay its taxes, and sustain its existence. But to fathers, children should mean much, much more. I know numerous fathers — true force multipliers — who are having lots of children within the confines of marriage and doing much to save humanity. But for them, rescuing civilization is a byproduct; the children are an end in themselves. Despite his civilizational aspirations, Musk doesn’t seem to go as far as viewing his children as mere units. But he comes close, and he could learn much from these men.
Along with other right-wing influencers and writers, Keeperman offered his thoughts on family formation and human fertility. Yet, unlike other speakers who discussed remedies for encouraging people to have more children, Keeperman took a different approach by declaring from the outset: “I’m going to explain why this conference should be disbanded as soon as possible.”
Far from dismissing the very real problem of depopulation, Keeperman thinks about it more than most people, but has concluded that this is one of those cases where less is more. As he puts it, people “need to care a lot less about their kids” and should stop calling themselves “pro-natalists.”
His first point warrants elaboration since most non-parents usually miss it. For several generations now, parents are expected to devote ever more of their time and attention to their children for the purpose of guaranteeing their material success, boosting their self-esteem, and conforming to an artificial standard projected by mass media. This means following all the new parental trends, seeking out the best schooling options, blocking out harmful influences, spending endless time bonding, and sparing no expense to keep their children happy and entertained.
Keeperman notes how these additional parenting burdens have made having more than one or two children far too onerous: “When parenting is redefined from an obsessive, resource-intensive exercise in micromanagement and resume-building to something much more hands-off and organic, each child no longer represents an exponential increase in parental workload and anxiety.”. //
For his part, Keeperman rightly sees the bigger problem with both views, which is that they make raising kids much more stressful and thus much less appealing. Hence, he admonishes his audience: “Don’t do this [over-parenting]. Stay as far away from this as possible. Actively reject this. Your kids don’t want this. It will not help them. You don’t want this. It is completely and utterly the wrong approach to parenting.”. //
After all, no normal person has children for the good of the country or to own the libs, nor should they. Rather, they should have children out of love. As Peachy Keenan said in her own excellent speech at the Natal Conference, “any healthy natalism movement must be about more than numbers and technology. It has to be about, simply, maternal love. We should do it for their babies, for our babies, out of infinite love for them.”
And for that infinite love to fully emerge, prospective parents need to distance themselves from the pressures to over-parent as well as disengage from the natalist debates. To do this, they need limit their exposure to the incessant chatter of digital media so that they can rediscover their natural impulses to pair up, procreate, and raise children. There is little need to complicate it, and much to lose from making the effort.
My crime: I had four kids, now growing into adults, and they are all wonderful. Truth be told, I hadn’t planned on four: we had two, a boy and girl, and life seemed perfect. But I wanted one more: I was one of three, and that seemed like a perfect number. Then we were blessed with twins, something that I never even considered, but which has turned out to be amazing.
The truth is, raising kids is God’s work, and there’s nothing like it that can bring meaning to your life—not career accomplishments, not money, not fame—only family. There are those out there on social media and the like claiming that they’re oh so happy with childless life—they’re able to travel!—but they just don’t understand what it means to raise a child. Meanwhile, call me when you’re 80 and need a helping hand—suddenly, your phone will grow silent. //
The left, in their insanity, has now made having multiple children a bad thing. This directly contradicts the order from the Bible, which commands: "Go forth and multiply." Not to mention Mother Nature, who says basically the same thing
To me, raising children has been the ultimate sacrifice and the ultimate joy. It certainly hasn't been easy; I can tell you that, but I can also argue that for America to return to prominence, we must acknowledge that children are our future.
Without them, humanity ceases to exist. //
anon-jzmf
4 hours ago
You do make sacrifices for your children. But it's not hard. It's easy to make those sacrifices because you love your kids so much that it's easier to give them what they need than it is to short-change them. //
St. Joseph, Terror of Demons
4 hours ago
Here’s where I am more conservative and traditional than even self-described conservative Republicans.
Once a woman has had a child, her primary function is to be at home raising her children. Certainly there are circumstances that require women to go back to work (e.g., the husband can’t work, is unemployed, or is no longer around).
However, the point of this life is not to strive to accumulate as much wealth, items, and comforts as possible, especially when you have a family. The point of this life is to know, love, and serve God, and to do everything that you can to get you and your family to Heaven. //
misterright St. Joseph, Terror of Demons
3 hours ago
When I was growing up in the 1950s and 60s, if your mom worked outside the home (as it was called back then) you were pitied. The notion of warehousing kids in daycare centers not only didn't exist, it was resisted because "that's what they do in the Soviet Union!" How far we've gone downhill in 60 years.
The Left argues that children who don't go to daycare are not properly socialized. My experience teaches me that children who are raised in daycare centers and spend time only with their age group in schools are not well socialized at all. I have never met such a child who could look you in the eye and carry on a conversation with adults. Children raised by their parents and especially if they have the blessing of growing up in close proximity to extended family are much better socialized and able to interact with others of all ages. Children of parents who, in addition to the above, are active in their church are even better socialized. In other words, the Left is absolutely wrong once again.
Marxists need to get their grip on children at an early age. The fact that stay-at-home moms are denigrated by the Left is not an accident. The fact that all daycare centers must be licensed (read: controlled) by the state and are thus turned into indoctrination centers is not an accident. The Left viewed the Soviet Union not as a cautionary tale, but as a model. If we don't drastically change course, our fate will be that of the Soviet Union. We need to start with families and education. //
7againstthebes
4 hours ago edited
The left, by their nature are anti-child. They are pro consumerism, pro hedonist, pro abortion, and pro drug and alcohol.
So, they are childless, materialistic, drug users and drunks. Welcome to your empty life.
As a country, we need to do more to encourage marriage and children. Some of that certainly pertains to an active faith in God as a society.
More than that, as a society we need to return to the traditional roles of society and the acknowledgement of the value added for each role. Further, those that are outside of those roles should be widely viewed as not as valuable to society.
The US tax code needs to be rewritten to substantially increase the child tax credit. To decrease the tax rate of married filing jointly. To offer more far reaching tax write-0ffs for child education costs, and daycare costs.
New civil laws that offer mortgage rate discounts for married couples. Civic planning that encourage and foster community planning that centers around children centric families.
These changes are a good way to start a focus on marriage and child rearing. Let the anti-child left be scorned and seen as valueless. Let their behavior be enough to mark them as useless to society. //
misterright 7againstthebes
3 hours ago
The family is the single most successful social unit in the history of civilization. For that reason, the Left cannot tolerate the existence of a society centered on strong nuclear families. Your comment that "society must be returned to traditional values that work to provide those goals and not against them" is spot on. Expect, however, that the Left will fight strenuously and with everything they've got to make sure that never happens.
Of course, many women who aren’t expecting a positive pregnancy test do experience all those feelings. It’s compassionate to meet women and their emotions where they’re at. But not once does Natural Cycles balance its we-understand-this-is-the-worst-thing-to-ever-happen-to-you attitude with Hey, this might not be what you were expecting, but your baby is worth celebrating, and you can do this!
Instead, it apologetically admits “the sad truth is that any sexually active woman is always at risk of pregnancy.”
The sad truth? That’s how human sexuality is designed, guys! You’re not actually pro-woman or body-positive if you think the procreative nature of sex and a woman’s natural ability to bear children are a “sad truth.”
Alternatives to hormonal contraceptives are appealing because they recognize a woman’s cycle is an amazing, intricate design to be understood, not suppressed with synthetic hormones. But treating the biological fact that sex creates babies as a bad thing sends women the same message that pumping them with carcinogenic pills and abortion drugs does.
There’s a huge market for a hormone-free alternative like Natural Cycles among pro-life women who want to avoid the anti-birth industry and its risks to their health. For Natural Cycles to shove abortion propaganda in their faces isn’t just bad business, it’s also insulting.
By promoting abortion, Natural Cycles is buying into the same lie as the pharmaceutical contraceptive industry: that women’s bodies and their potential for baby production are a problem. Even worse, it’s ensuring that one of the first reactions an expecting mother receives about her new baby is “here’s how to get rid of it.”
Every baby and every pregnancy deserves to be celebrated. The sad truth is that Natural Cycles doesn’t see it that way.
Article
See new posts
Conversation
Elon Musk reposted
More Births
@MoreBirths
A Pronatal Culture is the Clearest Path to Solving the Birthrate Crisis
Many worry that we won't be able to solve the low fertility crisis without terrible costs on society. Some fear women will lose access to birth control and abortion, like in Ceaușescu's Romania.Ceau Others imagine a religious theocracy as in The Handmaids Tale.
A slightly better possibility is the Scandinavian model, where significant sums are spent on subsidies for children. That's not a bad idea. But it seems to take big spending for only modest increases in fertility. Norway, Sweden and Finland all have a fertility rate below 1.5 anyway.
There is a way to solve the fertility crisis that is compatible with reproductive choice, reasonable government spending and a broadly freedom-oriented society. What is that? A society that priorities having children as one of the highest values.
Don't all societies do that? No, it's actually pretty rare in the modern world. Israel and Mongolia are two examples of countries that achieve healthy birthrates through a directly pronatal culture.
In December I wrote "Understanding High Israeli Fertility" about the only rich country with above-replacement fertility.
https://x.com/MoreBirths/status/1870911221630685465
In August I wrote, "Elevating the Status of Motherhood Solves Low Birthrates" about how Mongolia achieves triple the fertility of its neighbors with the help of national celebrations of motherhood. (The top image shows a Mongolian mother of four receiving the Order of Maternal Glory award, at the presidential palace in Ulaanbaatar.)
https://x.com/MoreBirths/status/1827418468813017441
That thread went viral thanks to @ElonMusk.
Both of these countries solve the fertility crisis in the most straightforward way possible. The fact that society needs more children is communicated openly and sincerely, over many years so that everyone in society understands. Having children became not just a personal choice but a national cause.
Building society-wide pronatal belief may not be easy. But that has to be the foundation of any successful pronatal strategy.
What is so great about having children as a national goal? A lot of things:
(1) It is honest about what society needs from people.
Society needs children and will fall apart without them. Most countries aren't willing to openly say it, but nations that do say it, and have a sense of national identity, can see profound results. //
Having children may bring happiness to adults, but so can fine dining and travel to beautiful places. Why should someone choose the first one which is hard instead of the latter two, which are easy? Are we willing to make the ask, to say we need people to have more children?
(2) A pronatal culture makes parenthood and especially motherhood higher status. //
(6) A pronatal culture solves fertility simply, mainly by getting existing parents to have more kids!
One the few examples of a country that went from below replacement fertility to above is Kazakhstan, whose TFR went from 1.8 in 2000 to 3.0 today. It did it much like Mongolia did, by celebrating motherhood and directly urging people to have more children for a brighter future.
What happened in Kazakhstan? First order births hardly changed but third, fourth and fifth+ births rocketed upward.
This has to be the easiest solution! People who aren't ready for kids don't have to have them. Those who already have kids just choose to have more!
Guess what: That is also how the Patriarch of Georgia got his country to raise its birthrate, by persuading parents to have more.
Doubtless, you've seen the random moments where Elon Musk is in an important place, saying important things, and talking to important people. It's pretty much his day-to-day, however from time to time, you'll see his little son, X Æ A-Xii, more commonly known as "X," right alongside him. Not only is Musk keeping him around during these important moments, he sometimes allows X to take part at the moment, giving him the microphone to be cute.
X can be seen being carried around on Musk's shoulders, or playing nearby as Musk speaks. The last clip of this happening took place in the Oval Office itself.
As Bonchie noted in an article, X stole the show as Musk was discussing battle plans with the press while Donald Trump sat at the Resolute Desk. It was a highly official moment, but X playing quietly right next to Musk as he spoke was the thing people were most impacted by. //
Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok
·
Children are a blessing. The most powerful people in the world are normalizing children in public.
Love this ❤️🇺🇸
3:05 AM · Feb 12, 2025. //
I try to take my son where I can. I don't just do this because I want to introduce him to various environments where he can watch me do things and learn, I do it because I think he belongs there. He's not taking up space, he's a person, and while he's just a toddler who will do toddler things, his little-kid mannerisms shouldn't be something we feel embarrassed about.
I believe there's a stigma about children in public, and that when they act like children in front of others, we feel apologetic or that we've done wrong by disturbing the peace with childlike antics. I think that's wrong.
While I don't think parents should let kids run wild and be nuisances, I think children being in public is a beautiful thing. I don't think we should ever feel guilty about the noise and disturbances they make to the extent we do. I don't think the public should see it as a negative event, either.
Being alive is a family affair, and healthy families oftentimes have little ones. We should consider them a blessing, not a burden. They should be brought out into the open and included in society, and not just in the everyday moments, but the important ones too, just like Musk is doing. This should be normalized, and have the message sent to everyone that children aren't just welcome, they're also fun little inclusions.
But it's not just about the kid, it's about the parent. We're normalizing, and elevating parenting in public. These moments where Musk has X nearby or on his shoulders sends a clear message that I think is often absent from the public consciousness.
He's a very powerful, influential, man... but he's a dad first. //
We have this idea in our head that we can't be a parent and a career-based individual, but Musk is disproving that consistently. He's worth more than anyone on the planet, and he has the ear of the most powerful man on the planet, but his son is his real priority. He conducts the business of the world, his decisions having national and global impact... and X is playing nearby while he does it.
We're not just normalizing children in public, we're normalizing parenting during critical moments and big decisions. Trump seems to have also had this strategy going, as his children are all successful business-minded people like him. Being included, even from a young age, helped pave the way for their own successes. //
Mike Ford
8 hours ago
Her Majesty [wife] shared something with me one day in church, when a little kid was being...well...a little kid.
She said, "The best sign of a healthy, growing church, is crying babies."