It’s no secret that the West is increasingly hostile to children. Long think-pieces are written about the ethics of taking babies on planes. A rambunctious toddler is likely to earn disapproving glares in even the most casual cafés and restaurants. Child-free weddings are more common than ever before. The idea that peace and quiet must be preserved above all else (even at the cost of creating new human beings) is now prevalent. Fulfilling the most basic function of human biology has become a weirdly revolutionary act. The anti-natalists demanding that children be neither seen nor heard are driving us towards a quiet, sterile future.
