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Cake day: June 5th, 2025

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  • “Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.”

    He didn’t say anything specifically about the ethics of human reproduction. He taught that craving sense pleasures leads to suffering. The monks that followed him were celibate. But he knew few would follow that path. So he taught a simplified code of ethics for householders (don’t kill, don’t lie, etc.) and assumed that there would always be people who want to make more people. Rebirth was an important part of his doctrine. The volitional actions you perform in life create karma which then, after your death, produces another birth. Escaping the cycle of karma and rebirth by letting go of the concept of self, of the idea of me and mine, was the ultimate goal of his path. And it’s only possible to get there in a human body. So in that sense he was not an anti-natalist.



  • Let me explain. Our health care industry is part of our (mostly) global capitalist economy. That means investors demand the maximum profit the industry can produce. Imagine that this industry had the choice of providing an inexpensive one-time cure for cancer, or a long-term expensive treatment. Which option would generate the most profit for the industry? It doesn’t matter if there are people in the industry who would like to find a simple inexpensive cure. The board of directors is elected by the shareholders, which really means the largest and most ruthless capital owners. If the CEO or any officers approve research on an inexpensive cure that will threaten the profits of the corporation they will be ousted and replaced with someone who “sees the wisdom of using existing proven treatments”. So the built-in conflict of interest of a for-profit medical system means we will always be stuck with a system that extracts as much cash as possible from its patients.

    Are there alternatives to this approach? Of course, but they depart from a pure capitalist system, and so, at least in the US, we will never see them as long as we accept our current economic structure.




  • Why do you reincarnate? Let’s take the Buddhist view. The cycle of birth and death (rebirth) ends when you let go of craving for existence, craving for sensual pleasures, and ignorance (not seeing things as they truly are). (aka the Asavas.) So, that means these things are the conditions for rebirth. And they are the source of karma in your current life. Do you dream of being rich, healthy, strong, pretty, etc? That’s the first one. Do you have fantasies of sex, dream of the next meal you’re going to make, or just want to see the sunset from a mountain top? That’s the second one. Or are you convinced your individual self is separate from everything else and/or has some permanent existence? (a rough inaccurate summary of ignorance)

    If any of these things are true they are probably focused on your current life. You probably don’t have fantasies of sex with odd slugs in proxima centauri. You probably don’t dream of being a brain parasite. The conditions for the next rebirth are set up by your cravings. And, most likely, you crave something distinctly human. Ergo, the next birth generated by your karma will most likely be human.