I have a sneaking suspicion that I have quite a few "natalists" among my Devoted Readers:
There is a little-known movement sweeping across the United States. The movement is "natalism." All across the industrialized world, birthrates are falling - in Western Europe, in Canada and in many regions of the United States. People are marrying later and having fewer kids. But spread around this country, and concentrated in certain areas, the natalists defy these trends.
They are having three, four or more kids. Their personal identity is defined by parenthood. They are more spiritually, emotionally and physically invested in their homes than in any other sphere of life, having concluded that parenthood is the most enriching and elevating thing they can do. Very often they have sacrificed pleasures like sophisticated movies, restaurant dining and foreign travel, let alone competitive careers and disposable income, for the sake of their parental calling.
As long as we're talking about sacrifice, can you say, "homeschooling?" I knew you could! Funny that it doesn't get mentioned anywhere in this thoughtful article, which describes the political and social ramifications of natalism:
If you wanted a one-sentence explanation for the explosive growth of far-flung suburbs, it would be that when people get money, one of the first things they do is use it to try to protect their children from bad influences...
You can see surprising political correlations. As Steve Sailer pointed out in The American Conservative, George Bush carried the 19 states with the highest white fertility rates, and 25 of the top 26. John Kerry won the 16 states with the lowest rates...
Politicians will try to pander to this group. They should know this is a spiritual movement, not a political one. The people who are having big families are explicitly rejecting materialistic incentives and hyperindividualism...Natalists resist the declining fertility trends not because of income, education or other socioeconomic characteristics. It's attitudes...
Like most Americans, but maybe more so, [natalists] suspect that we won't solve our social problems or see improvements in our schools as long as many kids are growing up in barely functioning families.
You'd think the educational establishment would be more in line with this sort of mindset, since they're always saying that parents, and not teachers, should be held accountable for the factors that produce lower test scores. What could make them happier than parents who agree to do their part in childrearing?
Then again, all the natalists I know believe there are so many problems with public schools that no fully-functional kid should be forced to attend one.
Posted by kswygert at December 7, 2004 03:34 PM