When Eight ISN'T Enough

People are asking: Is the mother of octuplets – on top of (literally!) her other 6 kids – a “Motherholic”?

Instead, I would say this is "Birth-aholisism" if anything. To mother is to raise, protect, care for, educate, cherish. This woman hasn't shown that desire as far as I can see. She's into having -- owning -- making babies. Giving birth and creating many babies. It does seem like an addiction.

What concerns me more is our comparisons to the old days and in poorer countries where large amounts of children were/are common. In rural areas, the more hands to work the land the better.

This is not her case! In fact, it is not the case anymore in many countries like the US because our means of production have changed. Because America is fully capitalist.

We don't give birth anymore to "potential workers for our household."

We give birth to wage slaves. We give birth to future consumers who'll cry out for more gadgets, more take-out, more cable channels. We give birth to more Americans who will need to PURCHASE their food, their health, their education, their clothes. No amount of children will assist a household in creating, producing that stuff anymore.

"More kids" does not result in "More food harvested" anymore. "More kids" no longer means your family creates more product. In America 2009 it means higher and higher demand for more energy consumption, more electronic toys, more food to eat, more land taken from endangered species, more imbalance. And more demand for others to help you.

Is this the kind of economy where people should be asked or expected to assist such extreme need? Born of total self-obsessed disregard for the struggles of most Americans already?? Which is still a drop in the bucket considering the enormity of the WORLD food crisis? Rioting around the world last year over the lack of FOOD?

A few years after Hurricane Katrina/Bush, we still haven't been able to get all those devastated families back on their feet. THEIR situations, loss, suffering are due to a catastrophe brought on NOT by their own making but government policy. Why should anyone feel compelled to assist someone in raising 14 children that were PURPOSELY produced for one adult alone? Is it considered a true "need" if you can't care for kids you brought here on purpose, knowing your lack of resources?

And would it have been any better if this were a wealthy family? Tough question for some. I'd say it still doesn't solve the issue of creating more humans needing resources that could be put elsewhere -- for humans ALREADY in need, due to no fault or choice of their own.

I propose these names for the Miracle 8:

GameBoy
Pampers
DayCare
McDonald's ("Mac" for short)
SoccerUniform ("Su" for short)
PhysicalTherapy ("PT," for theyears of special services many of these babies will need)
DesignerJeans ("DJ")
Papparotzi ("Papi."

Since they'll all grow up in a fishbowl, they may as well get used to cameras and Insider Edition reporters. They can thank their self-absorbed mom for that later. Maybe when one grows up and sues her for the cost of decades of therapy. Paris Hilton, move over...)