{"id":4167,"date":"2016-06-15T00:10:38","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T18:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=4167"},"modified":"2016-06-15T00:10:38","modified_gmt":"2016-06-14T18:40:38","slug":"raphael-samuel-suing-parents-anti-natalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=4167","title":{"rendered":"The Case For Not Being Born: What\u2019s the Mumbai Man Who Wants to Sue his Parents Thinking?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S<\/span><\/p><\/div>

ometime around noon today, I felt a headache coming on. I mentally ran through my options. I could either pop an aspirin, take a quick nap, or if I was anything like Mumbai resident Raphael Samuel, sue <\/span>my parents<\/span><\/a> for bringing me into this miserable existence. In a headline-grabbing stunt that has attracted the attention of international media like the BBC, the Mumbai man announced his decision to launch legal proceedings against his parents for giving birth to him without his consent.<\/span>\n\nSamuel holds that everyone alive was born without their consent, and that \u201cnobody owes their parents anything\u201d. Though <\/span>children<\/span><\/a> are not obligated to provide for their parents, according to Samuel, he obviously believes parents are responsible for the kids they bring into this world, which is why he is suing his.<\/span>\n\n\u201cIf we are born without our consent, then we should be maintained for the rest of our life. We should be paid to live. Why not,\u201d the 27-year-old asks. Being of the same age as Samuel, I can\u2019t help but wince when watching the video explaining his \u201canti-natalist\u201d stance, because while he might have thought he was making a very valid and deep philosophical point (which we\u2019ll get to later), all I saw on my screen was the embodiment about all the <\/span>very worst stereotypes<\/span><\/a> of the millennial generation, to which both Samuel and I belong.<\/span>\n\nFor years now, research papers and essays have been published about how millennials are just <\/span>the worst<\/span><\/i>. As <\/span>print publishing<\/span><\/a> crawled toward its grave, millennials were blamed for killing it off. Do you feel like <\/span>traditional romance<\/span><\/a> has vanished from the dating landscape? Must be those pesky millennials. The global <\/span>diamond industry<\/span><\/a> is witnessing a downturn and yep, somebody found a way to blame it on millennials. But despite \u201ckilling\u201d more victims than Ted Bundy and Aurangzeb combined, nothing harmed the reputation of the millennial generation more than the many labels slapped onto them by mainstream society \u2013 labels which Samuel is justifying by demanding his parents compensate him for giving birth to him.<\/span>\n\n

The school of thought on which Samuel is basing his arguments is anti-natalism, which holds that life is so painful, that human beings should stop reproducing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nLazy. Entitled. Selfish. These are the traits of the stereotypical millennial, at least according to people who don\u2019t know too many of us. And by demanding financial restitution from his parents, Samuel is reinforcing their stereotype. His video was calibrated to attract as many outraged eyeballs as possible, but unfortunately what most people will see is a loser looking for a free handout at his mother and father\u2019s expense. There is a philosophical basis for Samuel\u2019s arguments, but in carrying out a <\/span>superficial social-media stunt<\/span><\/a> rather than addressing the issue with any nuance (another common complaint against this generation), he\u2019s muddied the waters so badly that his intent is hard to discern.<\/span>\n\nThe school of thought on which Samuel is basing his arguments is anti-natalism, which holds that life is so painful, that human beings should stop reproducing out of compassion for unborn children. <\/span>David Benatar<\/span><\/a>, a leading anti-natalist thinker and author, puts forward one of the guiding principles of anti-natalism as the idea that if humanity were to not exist, \u201call the unpleasantness and all the misery and all the suffering could be over, without any real cost\u201d. In simpler terms, good things would remain good by virtue of their intrinsic nature, but bad things would no longer be bad since there would be no one to be negatively affected by them.<\/span>\n\nNow there are plenty of valid reasons to <\/span>not have children<\/span><\/a> \u2013 an overheating planet, apocalyptic levels of pollution, and dwindling natural resources for starters, without even considering personal motivations \u2013 but Samuel overlooked all of those in favour of a self-centred rant about how individuals should not be held responsible for their own lives. If Samuel was looking to start a meaningful discussion about how we view procreation, which would have been relevant in a country like ours where having kids is considered a duty, his hamfisted reach for viral fame missed the mark by a mile. Matthew McConaughey\u2019s character in <\/span>True Detective<\/span><\/i><\/a> provides a more balanced take on anti-natalism in one line \u2013 \u201cI think human consciousness is a tragic misstep in evolution\u201d \u2013 than Samuel did in his entire long-winded explanation.<\/span>\n\nHopefully the courts don\u2019t waste their time hearing this man\u2019s case, given that he\u2019s let down both the philosophy he claims to be speaking for and the generation he represents. Personally, I think not being able to appreciate the miracle of being alive on the only planet in the known universe which supports life in all its glory in favour of wishy-washy ruminations on the misery of the human condition, is just an act of mental masturbation, annoying to those around you.<\/span>\n\nAs a parting recommendation to Raphael Samuel, who clearly needs some uplifting messaging, I\u2019d like to offer some words of wisdom from Dr Seuss. <\/span>\u201cYou have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.\u201d And hopefully, that direction leads away from a courtroom where your parents are the defendants.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a philosophical basis for the arguments of Raphael Samuel, the Mumbai man suing his parents for being born. But in carrying out a superficial social-media stunt rather than addressing the issue with any nuance, his intent is hard to discern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":4168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[7550,19,80,1726,7551,7552],"class_list":["post-4167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pov","tag-anti-natalism","tag-india","tag-mumbai","tag-parents","tag-raphael-samuel","tag-suing"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Case For Not Being Born: What\u2019s the Mumbai Man Who Wants to Sue his Parents Thinking?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There is a philosophical basis for the arguments of Raphael Samuel, the Mumbai man suing his parents for being born. 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