Humanity鈥檚 bloody history has some people wondering if there is a future for
the human race鈥攁nd they are doing a lot of their wondering on the Web.
Some groups even want to bring the dominance of Homo sapiens to a
(peaceful) conclusion.
The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (www.vhemt.org) has as its creed
鈥減hasing out the human race by voluntarily ceasing to breed鈥�, which, it claims,
will allow Earth鈥檚 biosphere to return to good health. Assuring us that its
supporters are 鈥渘ot just a bunch of misanthropes and antisocial, Malthusian
misfits, taking morbid delight whenever disaster strikes humans鈥�, VHEMT
(pronounced 鈥渧ehement鈥�) says that it wants to offer a positive and caring
alternative to the involuntary, violent extinction that seems to be the
direction in which humans are heading at present.
鈥淓ach time another one of us decides to not add another one of us to the
burgeoning billions already squatting on this ravaged planet, another ray of
hope shines through the gloom,鈥� it says cheerily. Ever mindful of marketing, the
movement produces a bumper sticker that says: 鈥淭hank you for not breeding.鈥�
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Another movement, the Gaia Liberation Front, at
www.blue-cher.com/bmfy/private/glfsop.html,
says that 鈥淗umans have been usefully compared to a
cancer or a virus鈥� but in fact should be regarded as an alien species as far as
the planet is concerned. The humans must go, says the GLF.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, those wrestling with the emotional
complexities of not breeding鈥攖hat is, remaining childfree鈥攖here鈥檚 a
site maintained by childfree-and-proud-of-it 鈥淜andi K鈥� at
www.missouri.edu/~c489011.
This site is intended for those who choose not to have children,
rather than for those who cannot have children for some reason. What鈥檚 rather
sad is that some angry public response to her site means that Kandi has had to
explain that choosing to be childfree is not the same as disliking children.
