Get it organized. I’ll show up. Show us poor stupid lazy americans how easy it is to hold an extended general strike to effect a national change. I’m all in on it. Let’s fucking go everyone! This armchair analyst knows the way!
A birthstrike would be much easier to pull off than a general (labor) strike. Bills don’t stop just because you stopped working, and labor strikes require a high degree of coordination. It’s a significant risk for those going on strike.
In contrast, a birthstrike does not hurt your immediate situation, and actually likely helps it by preventing an increase in financial burden. Additionally, it requires no real degree of coordination. It can start small and pick up steam as more people jump onboard.
Hypothetically, you could start seeing results in as little as 9 months if people coordinated and actually took it seriously. Even without any sort of concerted effort, I wouldn’t be surprised if the U.S. sees a drop in birth rates in 2026 as large numbers of people independently (i.e. without coordination) say “no thanks!”
Part of the point of birthstriking is that even if the effort ultimately doesn’t work, you’ve still succeeded in protecting your descendants from whatever thing you are striking against. For example, I don’t think we can stop climate change at this point. But even if it doesn’t save the environment, there is value choosing to not create new victims.
Are the results anything that would cause any pressure for change though?
Won’t know until we try it 😃
Seems like you would want a lot of organisation too or its just a few people and maybe a 0.1% drop in the fertility rate.
Ideally yes, but even on a personal level the second paragraph (“Part of the point of birthstriking…”) still applies even if no one else joins in. This is in contrast to a labor strike that has no benefit to you (and is actively detrimental) if you try it without the backing of a large group of other people joining in.
It is easier to coordinate a birthstrike than a labor strike because it can be done incrementally. A labor strike absolutely depends on a significant % of the population engaging all at once. Otherwise it fails. A birthstrike can have participation build up over time since it doesn’t adversely affect your day-to-day life the way that a labor strike does, thus it can be held indefinitely. In contrast to working, reproduction is completely optional on an individual level.
But yes, it absolutely stretches out the time frame. Labor strikes produce results in days or weeks. Now we are looking at months and years.
We’ve been in a pseudo-birth strike for decades, kids have been increasingly expensive as real wages dropped. The only thing it’s gotten us is regressive assaults on reproductive rights.
Get it organized. I’ll show up. Show us poor stupid lazy americans how easy it is to hold an extended general strike to effect a national change. I’m all in on it. Let’s fucking go everyone! This armchair analyst knows the way!
A birthstrike would be much easier to pull off than a general (labor) strike. Bills don’t stop just because you stopped working, and labor strikes require a high degree of coordination. It’s a significant risk for those going on strike.
In contrast, a birthstrike does not hurt your immediate situation, and actually likely helps it by preventing an increase in financial burden. Additionally, it requires no real degree of coordination. It can start small and pick up steam as more people jump onboard.
Surely it takes a long time and Trump will be dead our out of office before any difference can be seen?
Hypothetically, you could start seeing results in as little as 9 months if people coordinated and actually took it seriously. Even without any sort of concerted effort, I wouldn’t be surprised if the U.S. sees a drop in birth rates in 2026 as large numbers of people independently (i.e. without coordination) say “no thanks!”
Part of the point of birthstriking is that even if the effort ultimately doesn’t work, you’ve still succeeded in protecting your descendants from whatever thing you are striking against. For example, I don’t think we can stop climate change at this point. But even if it doesn’t save the environment, there is value choosing to not create new victims.
Are the results anything that would cause any pressure for change though?
Seems like you would want a lot of organisation too or its just a few people and maybe a 0.1% drop in the fertility rate.
Won’t know until we try it 😃
Ideally yes, but even on a personal level the second paragraph (“Part of the point of birthstriking…”) still applies even if no one else joins in. This is in contrast to a labor strike that has no benefit to you (and is actively detrimental) if you try it without the backing of a large group of other people joining in.
It is easier to coordinate a birthstrike than a labor strike because it can be done incrementally. A labor strike absolutely depends on a significant % of the population engaging all at once. Otherwise it fails. A birthstrike can have participation build up over time since it doesn’t adversely affect your day-to-day life the way that a labor strike does, thus it can be held indefinitely. In contrast to working, reproduction is completely optional on an individual level.
But yes, it absolutely stretches out the time frame. Labor strikes produce results in days or weeks. Now we are looking at months and years.
We’ve been in a pseudo-birth strike for decades, kids have been increasingly expensive as real wages dropped. The only thing it’s gotten us is regressive assaults on reproductive rights.