Here lies the struggle between existence and persistence.

Wherein the existence is cultural, normative, and sentimental

But persistence is for the species, and it is filled with resistance

Here for existence we find money, family, society in its whole consistence

There for persistence we find sacrifice, compromise, and deference

One side pulls to the ego and is bound by tradition

The other asks we let of go of both

For the world is ending, everyone

Not the earth, no, the earth is fine but in colloquial terms, it is “us” who are on brink

As a species that faces oncoming generations of lost diversity,

And attempts to live in an ecosystem so far damaged that it wants only to kill inhabitants,

Plagued by poverty and arguments over the simplistic

Our species will fail, a legacy to fade from existence

As if some experiment gone wrong, we’ve cashed out on our own demise

We distract ourselves though from facing this truth with social media and entertainment lies

We have made the world ugly for many generations to come

Even if we turn to technology, power, and science – these things cannot save us

There is only one way to reduce the damage that is coming forward, in two words

A costly solution that is impossible: Population Reduction

You heard it here last, we’ve got to stop having children

Stop making more of the humans that there are already too many to care for

Smaller generations will yield difficulty, certainly,

But it will also halt the struggle against the machine of consumption

Less bodies around, less products to purchase

Less mouths to feed, less crops to reap

Less products and crops, less resource consumption

Less resource consumption, less damage to the ecosystem

“Less,” you get it, that is a key word

Because that’s the name of our hero for surviving this world

And since so many of stubborn minds can’t concede some loss of profit

Since many won’t make adjustments to assist the environment

And many who would can’t afford those adjustments

We need to find a place to put “less” otherwise we’ll get a death sentence

And yes, many already have so much less, but that’s the point precisely

For in those instances, we need to stop making “more”

No more children for more households, no more children for an outstretched workforce

It will sting and introduce difficulties but in the long term it will cost us less

But we cannot keep trying to take “more” despite all requests

“More” environment friendly, “more” conscious, “more” natural products

Certainly at one point, it might have, but we ignored it then

Now “more” is out of our price range, sweetie, we’ve overspent

Yet even now, we don’t want to face any consequence

Neither you, nor I, nor anyone wants to give up their most natural right

That request to not have children is a futile endeavor

But you cannot preserve your familial inheritance if there is no species

There will be no one good life in this future for your children

Please consider the request, despite all major levels of difficulty

It is a cultural sacrifice, a loss of a significant experience

To forgo of tradition and heredity in the name of a legacy for our own species

It’s not an easy task, not by any means

But we’ve locked ourselves into this deal

Didn’t give less when we could have managed it

And now we all, ladies and gentleman, we owe more

This is the struggle for existence and persistence,

We want both of these expensive things

All we’ve done though is dig ourselves a debt, and now

We owe too much

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