Happy Natalist Mother's Day!
A guest post from Anna Krupitsky
Just in time for Mother’s Day, Bet On It reader Anna Krupitsky has used AI to created an audiobook of my Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids. Since Amazon now has a problem with AI-read audiobooks, she’s sharing Selfish Reasons and the other audiobook versions of my works over on Youtube. She also sent me a lovely message to share. Here’s Anna!
In 2013, I jokingly wrote this post on my Facebook wall:
Now that my twins are about to turn one, I'm taking a step to reveal the darkest secret that all parents of twins keep from the world. When we had three kids, people told us that was a lot. We disagreed, read Judith Harris, and enjoyed each one of them. It wasn't a lot.
Then we read Bryan Caplan's Selfish Reasons. We decided to have another one. Another one turned out to be a set of two. We thought, well, THIS is going to be too much. This is going to be a disaster. Now, I'm going to divulge the information I acquired after a year spent in the company of these two (and the rest), with detailed knowledge on the matter: twins are not a disaster. To make matters worse, they are NOT EVEN HARD.
Twins are not only more fun than singletons; they are, in fact, easier to take care of! If anyone wants detailed information on the matter, contact me privately, but please secure your communication. Keep in mind the big conspiracy that twin parents are running against the common citizens of the world. Please don't let them make you think that twins are to be avoided by all means and that they deserve your sympathy by claiming they are having a hard time. Now, I'm ready to face prosecution and denigration from them and take responsibility for all consequences.
In 2016 we had another baby, and 2019 - another. The age difference between the oldest and the youngest is 20 years. Yet, the bond between all seven of them is unbelievably strong!
I can't properly count my blessings because I'd get too emotional. The pleasure, meaning, and happiness these kids bring to my life are incredibly immense.
We all have that one book that we wish we could make the whole world read. That book is certainly Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids for me, and should be for all of us. This is the book that can increase individual happiness and make the world a more prosperous place simultaneously, is easy to read, and wouldn't polarize. It challenges our preconceived notions about parenting and the impact each additional human makes on the world.
The other day, I had a brief chat with a woman who is a mother of one child. In the end, she gave me a pity hug because she felt bad for me having seven. I also gave her a pity hug because I genuinely felt sorry for her for stopping at one. I thought, if only she would read Selfish Reasons or could at least listen to it!
[Back to Bryan]
I’m proud of all my books, but Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids is the only one that I’m confident has actually made a big real-world difference. Hundreds of readers have told me that my words raised their family size by at least one. Using economist’s usual $10 million or so per life, that’s billions of dollars of value I’ve added to the world. So again, Happy Mother’s Day!
I'd like to hear from feminist mothers of large families (if any such exist!) It seems that most of the people who choose to have 3+ kids simply do not care about maintaining an egalitarian relationship, which makes the "selfish reasons" less convincing for someone who does.
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers!