Why Don't You Just Kill Yourself?

When pro-natalists encourage the death of those who have differing viewpoints on procreation...

Ever since I started doing antinatalism activism and outreach, both in real life and in online spaces, I’ve heard many variations of this sentiment. It seems as though those who want to push procreation onto others are the first to tell someone who doesn’t believe in procreation that they should just end their lives. They say that life is a gift, well if it’s such a gift, why are you telling me to end it? They say that children are a blessing, well I am someone’s blessing whom you just told to off themselves. They say that god put me here, well you just told one of god’s creatures to hang themselves. So which is it natalists? You can’t have it both ways.

What this person says above is the epitome of toxic positivity. Humans have to convince themselves that there is beauty or purpose in their suffering and pain to prevent them from acknowledging the bleak reality that now 8 billion humans and countless non-humans experience. The reality that the pain and suffering we endure has no purpose, it has no meaning, it is just there and a part of life. A life that none of us asked for. Just because YOU believe that someone who is fighting for their life or living in poverty is grateful for their life (did you even ask them?) doesn’t mean that I should kill myself because I acknowledge their immense struggle, pain, and suffering. Because of that acknowledgement and acceptance of reality for what it truly is which has resulted in my choosing to boycott procreation, I should kill myself? What kind of demented logic is that? I would rather educate and hopefully inspire others to make the most compassionate choice there is, the choice to opt out of procreation.

The fact this person put happiness in quotations is remarkable to me. Do you not believe in happiness? Does it not exist? Are you admitting you are deluding yourself? What’s the angle here? Make it make sense, please. Yes, it’d be great to reduce the population but not by killing already existing life. I would prefer people opt out of procreation by their own volition. I would like to create a better world for those who already exist to reduce the amount of suffering and pain they will experience. Including future generations because we all know, humans are far too selfish to think beyond themselves to stop creating new humans. How do you propose I do that whilst dead? Have humans lost all capacity to think critically?

What’s caring about forcing someone into an existence where they will be sexually assaulted? 1 in 5 girls and 1 in13 boys will be sexually assaulted by the age of 18 (Pereda et al, 2009) and between 90-95% of those assaults are committed by someone they know and trust. Those stats alone should be enough to deter any caring and compassionate human from forcing existence onto someone. Existence is full of harms and the example I mentioned is just one. Why would you purposefully put someone you love in harm’s way?

I wish you could see my face every time I see comments just like this. My eyes roll so far back into my head, I can see my what’s inside my skull…an exhausted brain. Wishing you never existed in the first place, wishing you were never born doesn’t equate to ending your life. I am here now and for the time being, I have an interest in continuing my life. When that interest is no longer there, I will come up with a solution to address that lack of interest and desire (more on this another time). Wishing you were never born is not mutually exclusive to no longer wanting to live. Honestly, I wish I would’ve been aborted so I never had to deal with ding dongs like this. If I never existed to begin with, if my mother was able to get the abortion she so desperately wanted but didn’t have access to, I would not have been deprived of nor forced to endure existence. Whereas, existence is full of deprivation and force. Many humans are deprived of their most basic needs and forced into situations they would never willingly consent to.

Why? So someone I care about is traumatized when they find my body? The mentality of natalists can be so sadistic.

Because I would prefer to do all I can to alleviate the suffering of others. Maybe you should consider caring for existing life instead of being such a piece of shit by telling others to kill themselves. And there are many people out there who do alleviate their pain and suffering by unaliving themselves in violent ways. See screen shot above this one. Gun shots, hanging, jumping off a building, walking in front a large moving object, and certain overdoses are extremely violent and not always successful- leaving people vulnerable to even more suffering and pain. See what I mean by sadists? But please, tell me again how life is a gift.

And my final gift to you, dear reader is this…

Imagine taking the time to send an email through a website just to tell someone to end their lives because you do not agree with their viewpoint. This is another perfect example of why I would never want to subject another human to existence when they’d have to walk among humans like this.

Stop having kids, care for existing life, and work on those critical thinking skills.

Xo,

Freeda Animals

Alex is a vegan, animal rights and antinatalist activist. She has documented non-human exploitation and organized liberations, as well as direct action demonstrations. Alex organizes street outreach demos for Stop Having Kids. She is pro-bodily autonomy and anti-exploitation of non-humans, humans, and the planet. She refused the overhyped Covid-19 vaccines because she followed the science and she has still not contracted Covid-19. You can follow her on Twitter @Freida_Animals and on YouTube at Freeda Animals.