So the "Paper of Record" has been pulling at our collective heart strings this holiday season with an expose on lives of the homeless in New York. What confuses me is why we are supposed to feel anything for this family of ten living in a shelter. Call me Scrooge if you want but there is no way we should feel anything but contempt for these irresponsible people who proceeded to have eight children with no apparent means to support them.I know that I repeatedly harp on the population point but here I go again. In the past 20 years the population of New York City has grown by nearly 10 percent. With much of that population growth being of wealthier individuals. The population density is extremely high here and this coupled with improvements in city life puts a premium price on everything. It would be next to impossible to raise a family of eight children on a million dollars a year here. The fact that the oldest of this families children is 11 means that they were all conceived during the economic realities of the 21st century. Large families are vestigial remnant of a time with a high infant mortality rate and need for large human labor force and should only be seen as socially irresponsible in the 21st century. There are no excuses for this kind of behavior from adults.
At some point we have to tell these people if you cannot afford to care for your children there will be consequences. We cannot continue to support a world that is so overpopulated. If you want to decrease the worlds wealth inequality stop having so many damn kids. I am ready for your Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future now. They can join me in my annual holiday Star Wars marathon just remind them to bring booze.
