Straight from the Heart

As my female friends start popping out babies by the dozen and marrying off to people most unlikely it seems like a good time to wax philosophical about what it means to be a parent, from the point of view of a hopelessly single bachelor. In this era of overpopulation it seems that people are incredibly principled and righteous about bringing new people into the world, right up until the point they get married or coupled up and then something happens to their brains. It's slightly disconcerting to see people reverse opinions and ideals on the head of a dime but it does happen.

It's an odd thing to write about, in that the creation of a new life is an innately immense idea, and indeed it is the only thing I call sacred from my atheistic point of view. Yet is is sacred and should be undertaken with the greatest of thought and the greatest of intentions. I probably won't ever make a person as there are too many weak genes to pass, and bizarre character traits. The duality of the motivation is quite confusing too, as it seems to be simultaneously selfish and selfless. Selfish as people just want to have children but selfless in that you mostly stop living for yourself once you become a parent and live for the kids instead. Two things at once. Duality.

I'm too detached and cold to do the job, but what is the main duty involved? Nurturing? Yes, nurturing is a large part of the idea but there's another thing that doesn't get talked about so much and that's enabling. Enabling is important. I've been associated with innumerable people of differing beliefs and mindsets and the thing I always wonder in this circumstance is whether they'll be good enablers or not. Whether they be nationalistic or religious, or just plain goofy, will they present their children with the background to operate in a global multi-religion society or try to restrict them to the things they want them to experience and try to limit them? Will they brought up to only function in the local sandbox or the global beach? Ultimately reality lies imbetween those extremes but a large part of parenting, to my ignorant and frankly cynical mind, seems to be in enabling instead of limiting. Here in mid-Wales people would wonder what to do about learning Welsh versus English and bilingualism. Well, teach them both and Spanish and Greek to boot. And why not Swahili too. They're all important. Don't make it a choice of two but offer everything, a patchwork of ideas and cultures from everywhere. It's probably time to start bringing the people of the world together instead of reinforcing how we're all different. Still, what do I know?

In many ways this is the most patronising piece I've ever written but I quite like it. It's topical. At a certain point in life single people do end up getting surrounded by couples and sometimes their progeny and you're left wondering: 'Why?' There's a curious paradox in the world that we worry about overpopulation on an idealistic level but then disregard it completely on a personal level. It's probably partly because of the location: Western Europe. We're surrounded by aging and declining native populations so we don't see overpopulation locally but can point it out over the seas and worry. I'm a big fan of immigration. It's necessary. We need people to do the jobs we won't or can't do ourselves.

It's a mad world.

O.

PS 'Call me patronising, but call me.' It's a quote and I can't remember what it's a quote from.
PPS Viva Film Bin! I just recorded anothe 'Due South' commentary. Keep an eye on the Film Bin player at the bottom of the page for fresh content.
PPPS Roughing out future plans for 'The Disappearance'. Write three portions and then plan is the usual panicky strategy!