Anti-natalism and the Horrors of Existence: Is Life Worth Living?
― Thomas Ligotti
Since 2012 I have written about the pitfalls of spirituality and how to live an authentic spiritual life. As the years passed, I gradually surrendered to the hard realities of life. Oh yes, I fought the raging battle between my dreams and disappointments and reached a point where it was time to take the gloves off and stop tiptoeing around the truth.
It's time for some bare-knuckle writing.
I won't write a script on "everyone's truth" to cushion the adult children in the room. I'm talking about 'the brutal truth' after the dream bubble pops and the snowflakes vacate. The most overlooked reality-check topic is childbirth. Allow me to indulge.
The Horror of Birth
Humans are born screaming and crying. That alone should tell you something. They live in a womb for nine months, subject to the conditions around the mother. If the mother is in an abusive relationship, on drugs, has a poor diet, or listens to entertainment that drives chills down the backs of sentient mammals, such as death metal, horror films, or action movies filled with gun violence and the sounds of dying actors, scientific studies have shown this affects the development of the fetus.
Eventually, they squeeze out of the birth canal with the sound of their mother screaming in pain as the doctor (who is a stranger) pulls them away from the womb, cuts their umbilical cord (that lifeline that has kept them alive for nine months), swings them over to a table, wipes off the placenta goo, and in some cases, cuts the foreskin off the genital (which is very painful).
After the sanitizing ordeal, the mother's warm embrace rewards the infant, who suckles her teets. One can only wonder if children feel guilty for being born. Just think of the pain and sacrifice their existence has imposed upon an innocent human being right from the start. Could this be the birth of the psychological shadow?
NEWS FLASH: Florida teen dead from lightning strike on hunting trip with dad.
If it is true that spiritual beings choose to come to classroom earth, shouldn't there be an entrance fee or reparations for the mother? Why would a loving spiritual being kick off its earthly visit by causing incredible pain to another? What's altruistic about that? Did Jesus apologize to Mary? Did Gandhi blurt a "Namaste" on the way out? One can only wonder why a returning Buddha wouldn't deploy a 'cosmic numbing agent' to the ill-recognized Goddess.
But consider that this birth scenario is the exception. What about inner-city children who spend their first nine months in drug-infested, crime-ridden environments? Those unlucky souls born addicted to fentanyl, wheeled into a recovery room without a suckle, sent to an orphanage, abandoned on the side of the road, or given to sex trafficking rings?
The Blind Leading the Blind
I went into Walmart the other day and was, as always, haunted by children captive to toxic parents. The sadness in their eyes was evident as they were publicly scolded for wanting a candy bar and commanded to stay still in the shopping cart. They were treated with no rights and no autonomy. Their job was to obey their masters. It was truly heart-wrenching to witness.
Instances like this erode my faith in humanity. In a society captivated by entertainment, a staggering $150 billion human trafficking industry thrives while people walk around with 'cuckoo clocks' above their heads — and they wonder why the world is a mess until their child gets kidnapped. They buffer their consciousness from the horror by attending the next church service, baseball game, or concert, with an occasional petty donation for a children's cancer hospital at a Safeway checkout.
NEWS FLASH: Bride killed and groom injured when driver slams into golf cart after wedding.
Another example that makes me embarrassed to be human is on social media. I recently posted a Facebook ad for my book which is a biography of my journey from generational child abuse to spiritual healing. Close to half of the replies were people mocking, and laughing, and some were mad that I posted the ad. On YouTube, the reactions to my video biography are the same with armchair morons dumping their nasty minds all over the comment thread like a bunch of drunk apes. I become more grateful for the trickles of appreciation I get.
The Human Animal
Humans are emotional primates, susceptible to trance, storytelling, hypnosis, and hallucinations. They are inherently inclined to obey authority, adhere to societal norms, project their insecurities onto others, exhibit territorial behaviors, are generally stupid, and occasionally indulge in tendencies reminiscent of the darkest of inclinations, such as masochism and sadism.
NEWS FLASH: Utah Man Killed Wife & 5 Children, Then Himself.
However, akin to other mammals, humans possess the capacity for playfulness, wonder, friendliness, companionship, care, generosity, genius, and, in the most exemplary instances, a willingness to selflessly sacrifice for the greater good. Don't get me wrong, when humans are good, they are good. But when they are bad, they destroy their reputation.
Angels and Devils are nothing more than human projections. Thus, with disproportionate self-images, they believe the universe revolves around them while they strut in their hamster cage waiting for the next upgrade (extended tunnel, sqeeky toys, extra water container etc).
Could Humans Change?
Would human behavior improve if the "survival of the fittest" meme was balanced with love and cooperation? Are the devils of our nature fed by nefarious influences?
According to David Loye, an internationally known psychologist and evolutionary systems scientist, evolution extends beyond the survival of the fittest. He published several books on Darwin's less-known writings on love and cooperation in the context of evolution. These writings by Darwin have been excluded from the official narrative which should raise some social engineering flags (hand me a tin foil hat over a blindfold, thank you very much). If "survival of the fittest" is the dominant interpretation of evolution, how can we expect a society to feed the better angels of their nature?
For further insights, I highly recommend exploring David Loye's books.
Contrary to the prevailing notions of selfishness and survival of the fittest, this theory places love, sex, and moral sensitivity at the forefront of our understanding of evolution.
Page after page of Darwin’s own original writing, Darwin makes the case for the primacy of love, moral sensitivity, mutual aid, and education as higher order drivers for human evolution.
The Delusion Buffer
Humans are most vulnerable to their hopes and dreams. They create illusions to buffer their consciousness from death, sickness, loss, heartbreak, poverty, crime, drug abuse, unfairness, injustice, threats, intimidation, humiliation, and macro topics such as nuclear war, famine, child sex trafficking, genocide, infanticide, pandemics, disasters and, well, use your imagination.
NEWS FLASH: Iraq wedding fire kills more than 100 people: "Indescribable tragedy."
But wait a minute. Aren't you overlooking the good in between all of the bad Zzenn? Sure, but the fact remains that humans spend much of their time spinning happy plates to get through life. This blog is a reading exercise for thrill-seeking info-surfers. The kind who stop and watch car accidents. The bravest of minds who delve into the underbelly of reality.
Let us not forget that the universe grows puppies and flowers. It creates eyes for beautiful sunsets. It evolves organisms for love and companionship. It gives humans sensual experiences and grows an inner realm of beauty, healing, and bliss. The universe could also be likened to a monster that destroys its own creations.
God's Unforgivable Sin
When I look through the corridors of time, there's one topic that destroys the idea of a loving God and the value of the human experience — the suffering of children. The history of which can never be reversed. It can never be remedied even with some form of mind-erasing magic. The crime has been committed and the trauma runs deep in humanity's ancestral memory. Much worse is our species hasn't learned the lessons from the past and child abuse continues to flourish. The child sex trafficking industry is somewhere in the ballpark of a 150 billion-dollar industry.
All life is suffering.
— The Buddha
A metaphysical mind would argue that we are "spiritual beings" from another dimension experiencing the woes of 3D earth life for learning. But that doesn't change the consciousness of the child's suffering in that form. The sentient "being" suffered horribly. Some may call it a dream, but if it's a dream, it is a horrifying painful dream that no self-aware creature in the universe should ever experience.
Is Human Biology a Tunnel to Another Dimension?
Why would anyone want to bring a child into a world of suffering? Why would the portal of birth be opened for innocent beings to be subject to kidnapping, war, rape, child abuse, environmental disasters, school shootings, and death anxiety? Is earth life a tomb for birth into another realm? A dangerous journey for souls to navigate to a fantastical dimension where they are no longer limited to the prison of space and time?
"To the occultist, birth is death, and death is an awakening. The mystics of ancient days taught that to be born into the physical world was to enter a tomb, for no other plane of nature is so unresponsive, so limited as the earth-world. Time and distance were prison bars chaining the soul to narrow environments. Heat and cold tormented the soul, age deprived it of its faculties, and man’s life was but a preparation for death."
― Manly P. Hall
Is it possible that conscious balls of energy must travel through human organisms to grow into a form for existence in another dimension? Is the body a cocoon that gives birth to a winged creature through the Kundalini experience? Ha, how's that for imagination?
Or . . .
Is life a wasteland of blind mutations that give organisms a brief window of consciousness until they black out into oblivion? I cannot say that is so terrible as long as I'm not aware after my personal extinction. The last time I went under anesthesia I was "not there" during the operation so my existence didn't technically matter. There was no pain or medical conversations to decipher.
The Near Death Experience
Skeptics I have run into on social media claim to "know" there is no afterlife. In a recent debate, I argued that you cannot know there's no afterlife any more than you can be certain of one. The atheist rebutted stating the current findings in neuroscience prove NDE's (near-death experiences) are brain hallucinations.
I explained that I agreed with the findings and quoted neuroscientists such as Sam Harris, Susan Blackmore, V. S. Ramachandran, and physicist Victor Stenger. However, I clarified that they have not come to empirical conclusions and that NDEs are not fully explained. I noted that people who experience an afterlife dimension describe a realm so far beyond the human experience that our earth life pales in comparison. The dilemma I find is how does a brain that is barely functioning, produce an experience far beyond its normal activity?
Below, you'll find a selection of NDE (Near-Death Experience) testimonies sourced from nderf.org. It's important to acknowledge that these accounts are challenging to interpret due to the commonalities and variations they exhibit. NDE events often share similarities in their descriptions of the environment (such as a tunnel of light, unfamiliar colors, encounters with entities, and a sense that earthly life pales in comparison). However, the actual experiences can differ significantly based on individuals' beliefs, though this is not always the case. Delving deeper into this topic warrants a dedicated article, but for context, here are a few of these testimonies:
- Kevin L NDE 3/20/2022. NDE 9362. Exceptional Experience, from Canada I was transported to the event horizon or beyond of a black hole. Could I do this if I was alive? The answer, I believe is 'No'. The power of a black hole is needed for a soul to travel from one universe to another.
- Al H NDE-like 12/25/2021. NDE-like 9322. Exceptional Experience. The life story of every single tree I can see(thousands), the landscape and city that existed previously, colors and shapes that do not exist here.
- Wooter VA Probable NDE 9/24/2023. Probable NDE 9697. From the Netherlands I was in a field where the sky was purple, the birds sang beautiful songs to me, and there were beautiful trees.
- Scott W NDE 11/11/2019. NDE 8914. Exceptional NDE I then left the earthly realm and entered into an alternate reality. I saw a lagoon that was surrounded by beautiful plants. Everything was soft to the touch. There were 4 or 5 entities who were present, but I could not see them. They assured me that everything would be all right and that I could leave anytime I wanted. They told me that this place was for me and it contained all the Unconditional Love I had for others and that they had for me.
The Rain Falls on the Just and Unjust
Logic would dictate that to declare it was God's Will to destroy your village and kill your family is an absurdity. Why would anyone's God hurt them and require them to be thankful for his abuse? As the late great Christopher Hitchens said:
“[Heaven is a] place of endless praise and adoration, limitless abnegation and abjection of self; a celestial North Korea.”
Moreover, one encounters news stories of unfortunate events befalling virtuous individuals in the most heartbreaking of situations such as a bride tragically losing her life in a car accident en route to her wedding. A quick Google search for wedding tragedies yields numerous instances. Conversely, criminals thrive in illicit activities such as drug trafficking and human exploitation with a malevolent synchronicity. And yet, Christians blame the sinner for God's petulant absence.
Regardless of how one dissects the human spectacle, the presence of injustice underscores the impartiality of nature, as alluded to in biblical teachings:
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
— Matthew 5:45
For there is no respect of persons with God.
— Romans 2:11
Antinatalism
- Suffering and Pain: Antinatalists often argue that life inherently involves suffering, pain, and hardship. They believe that bringing new people into the world exposes them to inevitable suffering, and it is therefore morally wrong to subject potential individuals to this suffering.
- Overpopulation and Environmental Concerns: Some antinatalists argue that the Earth is already overpopulated, and further human reproduction exacerbates environmental problems such as resource depletion, climate change, and habitat destruction. There is the argument that there is plenty of room on the earth for a growing humanity but what about the chickens, cows, and pigs who must feed the sapien herd? Go to the Animal Kill Clock website to discover the billions of creatures it takes to feed 8 billion of us annually. Humans, to these animals, must be horrifying flesh-eating aliens. As of the writing of this article (9/27/2023), the total of animals slaughtered for human consumption is 40,934,456,892 for the UNITED STATES ALONE!!!
- Lack of Consent: Antinatalists maintain that individuals cannot give informed consent to be born, as they do not exist prior to their birth. Who wants to be born into a starving African family, a mother addicted to fentanyl, or a genetically deformed birth? Anyone who tells you they chose to come to earth for the experience should be slapped silly. It's easy to say something like that if you haven't been raped, tortured, born deformed, or mind controlled in an underground lab.
- Ethical Considerations: Antinatalists often cite ethical considerations, such as the potential for harm or suffering that individuals may experience in their lives, as a reason to abstain from procreation.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, I know child trafficking will continue alongside Cruise Ship vacations until the nuclear bombs start dropping and everyone gets microchipped.
I hope this made you think . . . and I hope I'm wrong.
— Zzenn
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