All these words doesn’t negate the fact that it is not essential to have kids or marriage to be fulfilled. That’s the contention. I think everyone here is smart enough to realize this isn’t about any one shitting on marriage or kids.
Discussion
A fair point. What I am saying relates to arguments I have seen from a number of people in and around this core discussion. You are right that no one is specifically shitting on marriage and children. I am responding to what they *are* saying.
Also, the use of the word "essential" was only in one of his recent posts on the matter but there are other posts he has made that got equally hostile responses.
For what it is worth, I personally would say that marriage and family are *essential* for a society but *normative* for the individual.
Unless you have a transformative spiritual life that produces beyond a family (A priest being father to a parish) you're going to be hard pressed to find a vocation with a greater calling than to become husband and father. Seriously, what could you be doing now or in the future that's more important? What are the vast majority doing that's more important? Working a 9-5 (or more), playing video games and watching TV/Youtube?
I don’t disagree with anything you just said. But the idea that those things are essential and necessary for fulfillment and meaning in life is just wrong. And there are a million other lifestyle alternatives than “video games and weed.” If someone wants to be that rigid and dogmatic about how one derives purpose, meaning and fulfillment, that’s fine but then they shouldn’t call themselves an “individualist” and a “freedom maximalist.” Bottom line is people don’t like being told that they need to act, behave and be a certain way.