by Hans Johnson
Sometimes more can be said in one minute of film than in a three-hour blockbuster – as shown by this Coca-Cola commercial from Argentina, by way of Fr. Z’s Blog:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/4sNlcwAh83Y[/youtube]
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Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
WOW!! I love it!!! iT’S GREAT TO BE PRO-LIFE!!! I love mommies, daddies, babies and loving families.
Made me tear up. Love it!
That was adorable… but I can already see people posting stuff like “this is* supposed to be a middle-class family who probably PLANNED to have kids, how prolife is that?”
*at least that’s the way it looked like it was being portrayed to me
Well all babies are pro-life, even if they are planned. :)
And there’s something to be said about really low birth rates in the middle class, for some reason people aren’t having many kids anymore.
Deluded Lib Pro-lifer says:” for some reason people aren’t having many kids anymore.”
The reason is because if they had more kids, they wouldn’t be able to take their vacations to Mexico, or live in their McMansions, or drive their fancy cars. God forbid they make their own coffee or stay home for the entire month of January.
That’s a pretty insulting generalization, Mama MT. I don’t think you’re talking about the middle class, at least not the middle class these days. I know a lot of people who have concerns far, far more down-to-earth than fancy cars and vacations. I’m one of them. FYI I make my own coffee, and forget about “staying home and staying in” for fun – I recently lived on the road, a different city every week, and didn’t even see my family or my step-kids for over two months because that was the job that came up when I needed one.
I’m not poor. I am solidly middle class. I live in a 2BR apartment; there are four of us. We are a one-car family. We’ve been on two vacations in our time together – both really more long weekends than vacations, both within driving distance. A long time ago we went on a trip to Miami, but it was a work trip that we just turned into a somewhat-fun trip so I don’t count that.
The reasons I cannot fathom having a baby are not “losing luxuries.” They are, hugely, things like childcare costs. Not-working is not an option for me. As I said, we already live small, but we barely afford the life we have on both our incomes. Childcare in my area easily runs $2000 per month at least, except that I start work at 8am which means I have to be on the 6:30am train which means that to fit in the normal daycare hours I would need to use a childcare center in the city rather than in my town, which would be more in the range of $2500-$2700/month. And they don’t even go past 6pm so the first time my boss needed me to stay late I’d be up a creek. That’s my biggest worry. My second-biggest would be the months with no paycheck. I work a physical job and I do not have the luxury of just “switching” to another one. I could not do my job shortly after having a child. Heck, when I had sinus surgery two years ago I had to take a month off just to recover from that, because it was unsafe for me to return to work.
Healthcare is the other big concern. I have spent most of my adulthood without insurance and I know the unreliability and the fear very well. I am terrified by the idea of getting bankrupted by costs incurred during pregnancy or labor. A friend of mine had a miscarriage and had a D&C and her insurance refused to cover it – $11,000 right there that she still owes, years later. Those stories and more – there are a lot – keep me up at night.
THESE are MY concerns. I don’t give a crap about fancy vacations, fancy cars, or even college educations – I’m in the “you go to community college and then we’ll see what happens next” camp on that, and I have no college degree myself – but please, by all means, have fun with your stereotype bingo.
Holy smokes, Alexandria. You sound very angry. I think Mama MT was talking generalizations not about people in situations like yours. I do know couples that are like the folks Mama MT is talking about though and realize she was generalizing.
Your situation is what it is because of the choices you have made and this cannot be compared to those who choose to have no or few children so they can have more stuff.
I think the commercial was very sweet and touches on what is really important in life.
The people having the babies aren’t always prolife though, Lib, many sadly have had other children aborted and the child or children (*I’m guessing that proaborts rarely have more than two biological children) they don’t abort is their one(s) that were planned.
*IMO there’s nothing wrong with planning your family or only having one or two children if, in both cases, abortion isn’t involved, but some proaborts act as though people are killing the planet by even having three!
Praxedes, these generalizations come up just about, oh, EVERY SINGLE TIME someone mentions the fact that the middle class has fewer children these days. I know people like the people Mama MT is describing too, but I would not describe them as “middle class” and it is insulting to hear them constantly brought up when the very emotional, sensitive, and complex topic of wanting more children but being legitimately unable to afford them comes up.
I am angry. It gets extremely repetitive. My situation is due to my own choices no more than it is for anyone else – that is, it’s pretty equal parts chance and choice. I didn’t choose the hardships in my life; I choose to cope with them in the best ways that are available to me. Believe me, if there had been a choice to have a nice house instead of a cramped apartment I’d have chosen that. etc etc. I am not unhappy in my life at all – I actually love it – but flip comments about how we could all have larger families if we would just stop being so freaking selfish and stay in for a month a year are so off the mark that they are laughable. People my age, at least, are not generally worrying about fancy cars and vacations. We are worrying about jobs and insurance and skyrocketing rent, because those are real, huge, and valid concerns that people in the generation immediately preceding us didn’t really have looming over them in the same way.
It’s always easier, and I guess more fun, to just point a finger and click your tongue. There are some pretty real and valid reasons that people are having fewer children, though, and it does no good to pretend that they don’t exist and that it’s all about lattes and double-height entryways.
My family drives a Malibu and Toyota Sienna minivan. I hate to say it but both makes and models suck these days.
As far as having less children - perhaps Mama MT was describing the upper middle class? :)
I’ve got to add that this ad is much needed in the US. Did Coca-Cola test this ad in Argentina for a reason?
I didn’t choose the hardships in my life;
Of course not. I was referring to the fact that you have chosen to date and live with a man that already has two children.
“Praxedes, these generalizations come up just about, oh, EVERY SINGLE TIME someone mentions the fact that the middle class has fewer children these days. I know people like the people Mama MT is describing too, but I would not describe them as “middle class” and it is insulting to hear them constantly brought up when the very emotional, sensitive, and complex topic of wanting more children but being legitimately unable to afford them comes up.”
Alexandra I hope you don’t think that people in your position (middle class-ish) is what I was referring to. There are real reasons that people don’t have more kids, I’m like the last person who would deny that. I was more thinking of upper middle class, I think. People who have a lot of disposable income but choose to only have one child because it’s the thing to do, I guess. I do hear your complaints about stereotyping and I do think they are valid, I’m sorry if I contributed to that. Everyone looks at least middle class from where I am at and I’m not always good at understanding that everyone has struggles.
I hope you’re doing well!
No offense taken, Jack!
Praxedes, I did choose to spend my life with a man with children, just as your husband chose to spend his life with you and your child. I don’t consider that very relevant, because the comment was on why middle-class families have fewer children, and whether these kids I love and care for were “mine” or “merely his” the reality would be the same: we would be stuck at two despite being very, very happy otherwise to have more.
Oh my god.. this isn’t a “pro-life” commercial… this is showing a sweet young family being happy that their family is growing! Nothing to do with pro-choice/pro-abortion. A bit of a stretch ladies…
Also, MamaMT did make a rude comment. For one, who CARES is people chose not to have children so that they could travel, live in a beautiful home etc? Wouldn’t you rather those who don’t want children, not have them? It’s pretty hypocritical to make them sound selfish, when in reality, they’re doing everyone a favour, including their potential children. If you want them, have them, if you don’t, who cares? Have fun on your beautiful vacations in your beautiful homes. Some people just need their spouse, some don’t even need that. Quit being so judgemental.
We have not seen this ad in the US because the sweetener used has not been approved for use in the US. The Coca-Cola Life product is only available in Argentina and Chile.