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You Didn’t Ask To Be Here: Adventures In Antinatalism

Last year, a 28 year-old guy in Mumbai tried to sue his parents - who are both lawyers - for having brought him into the world. He claims his parents didn’t get his consent to live. In addition to being a very bold person, he is an anti-natalist. That is, he believes that it is morally wrong to bring sentient life into this world - no matter how charmed or how troubled that life is - and that humanity should stop reproducing, full stop.

Anti-natalism is not a novel concept. You can trace it as far back as some interpretations of the teachings of Buddah, and in ancient religious sects. Nowadays, the subreddit dedicated to Anti-natalism has 70,000 members, and there are 15,000 people following the Facebook group, the “Voluntary Human Extinction Movement”. You’ll hear from one of its leaders in this show.

The screenwriter for the Netflix series, True Detective, says that that the antinatalist beliefs of one of the main characters was inspired by the book, “Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence” by the philosopher, David Benatar. You'll meet him too, and learn a lot more about the belief that this world would have been better had none us been here in the first place.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and email.

GUESTS:

Catie Talarski contributed to this show.

Chion Wolf is the host of Audacious with Chion Wolf on Connecticut Public, spotlighting the stories of people whose experiences, professions, or conditions defy convention or are often misunderstood.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

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If that matters to you, now is the time to give. Join the 50,000+ members powering honest reporting and a more connected — and civil! — Connecticut.

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