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Actually the US has a very low birth rate. It has been on decline for the last 12 years or so and hit an all time low in 2002 I think it was.

Parts of Europe do not even have "replacement" birth rates, and there are all kinds of scientists in different fields studying what it means when there aren't enough people being produced to keep the population constant. What that means for the work force and economy etc.

When countries become "developed" they SHOULD have lower birth rates, they SHOULD be producing less by products of production (Not that the US is upholding the social contract on the tail end there)

Gee, thanks. That statement alone makes me wonder who on earth you've met.

Perhaps it's because of how many women find it empowering to wear pants like men do in today's society and don't see why some would still want to wear exclusively dresses and skirts. To each their own, really, and I don't thing they meant to offend.

There's also probably some worry on why they're wearing exclusively skirts and dresses. If some of them are really young, then it might be seen as forcing them into something they "don't know any better" about (not my views, but I can understand how some might think it).

I'll shush now. ninja

... xd

The Duggars! Anyway,I was watching this other special on there where this guy and this girl had 3 kids of their own,but they adopted like 19 or 20 special needs kids.Now that's too many kids.

I kind of agree with you. However, adoption can be a very long and difficult process. Especially over here, so I'm told.

In the UK it's meant to be nigh on impossible to adopt. Of course the option to adopt frm aborad is there, but some families cannot viably go about persuing that option. With the legalities involved from both countries.

I saw those programmes about the Duggars on Discovery Home and Health recently. I respect just how much work they've put in to keep their family running smoothly. However, I don't quite agree with their religious beliefs. I personally am not one to favour organised religion, believing that such can become all consuming if taken to the extreem. That is what appears (to me) to have happened to the Duggars. Having faith is a wnderful thing, but taking it to such extreems as they have just un-nerves me a little.

Meh, it's obviously their choice. The children don't seem to be desperatly suffering for it (although f course thats just based upon the two Tv shows I've seen) so I don't think it is that bad I suppose. Indeed, I wish the children had more freedom to make up their own minds about how their raised, but children accept what they are presented with as reality and normality.

They couldn't adopt or foster that many because she's ALWAYS pregnant. If you noticed on their website, they think birth control is a horrible thing... that's they're denying god's gifts and essentially as good as spitting in his face. So she'll keep having kids until it's physically impossible... which I think is absolutely ******** ridiculous.

First off, sure, a century ago this wouldn't have been a big deal. But there's a reason for that. A century ago, everyone had a labor-intensive occupation. You were the baker, the farmer, the fletcher, this or that. Multiple children meant ready-made labor for free. Also, they weren't required to go to school. Working in the family trade was what was expected of children.

In this day and age, you are legally required to attend school, and there are child labor laws in place for great reasons. Plus, there's not too many family trades anymore that children really could even participate in. It's not like your 5 year old can come to your dental office with you and hand you tools, or type out your reports while you narrate them.

So this whole idea is outdated, and with good reason.

First, the buddy system sucks, plain and simple. Your older children are STILL children. They shouldn't be responsible for younger kids. Not only are they not intelligent or educated enough to know how to do everything at an adult level, but they also aren't the ones who chose to have more children... THAT bothers me more than anything. When do they get time to socialize with other kids and learn valuble life-long social skills? When do the older kids get a chance to date? When do the little ones get one-on-one PARENT time? I highly doubt any of them are allowed to make their own choices very frequently. After all, when you're cooking breakfast for 19, you're not going to ask what people want. When you're reading a bedtime story for 7, how often do you get to choose your favorite book?

I know they're all homeschooled, and I feel BAD for them. How can you homeschool 17 children well? When you're teaching the ABC's to child #15, what's child #2 doing? Oh yeah, cooking lunch and doing laundry. When child #2 is busy learning about WW2, where is child #15? Oh, getting a bath from child #12. See where I'm going with this? Public schools can have 1 teacher to 20 children, but ONLY because all of those children are learning the same thing, at the same level. Some schools try to integrate close grades, say a 1/2 grade class and a 3/4 grade class, but unless there's only maybe 10 students, it doesn't work too well because they're not all on the same page.
I just don't see how these children are getting a fair education this way. I'm SURE if you compared them to an average public-school student of the same age, the Duggar child would be painfully behind.
When they're changing their siblings' diapers, teaching things to their younger siblings, cooking, doing laundry, raising barns, praying, giving another child a bath, etc... when do they get to play, or do homework, or read a book for fun? I'll bet you it's not that often, which makes me really sad. I'm a SAHM of a 2 year old, and it seems like their older children have more responsibilities and less leisure time than I do by a measurable account... and they're still kids.

As far as the dresses and swimsuits go, it's old fashioned like the rest of their lives. I'm sure they are taught that sex before marriage sends them straight to hell, and that showing above the knee is a one-way ticket as well. As someone else pointed out, individuality is obviously not valued, or probably even sanctioned within this family, and I find that awful. If there were a couple girls in there wearing pants, maybe a few in short skirts, some with dyed hair and maybe a piercing or two, I'd clap... but there's not. They all look like they're taught to lower their heads and be the submissive, subserviant, barefoot-in-the-kitchen, dinner-on-the-table-at-6 kind of women. I wouldn't be surprised if they had arranged marriages within their small circle of common believers.

I feel bad for the kids. It's living like living 2 centuries behind.

I hope the mom becomes infertile, so her kids get a shot at living.

Goodness gracious...

My dad has 9 sisters and 7 brothers.. neutral