Heritage

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: And the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; So are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/opinion/birthrate-kids-parents-demographics-future.html

Reading the link above brings a distinct sadness because the root of my faith is Christianity.  The words "blessing" and "children" are synonymous.  Our own sons have brought tremendous blessing to our lives.  But I can give witness to my mother's words, "If you wait until you can afford to have children you will never have them."   And my parents raised and educated six children with a lot of love, sufficient nourishment, and a great sense of humor and liberality toward each of us as unique human beings with disparate personalities and temperaments.  I sometimes secretly believe that it is easier, and certainly more enjoyable, to understand children.  Some adults become individuals we can scarcely tolerate - much less care to be within their deformed presence.

Until our oldest son was a young teen, we lived in what is called a "starter home".  One thousand square feet, two bedrooms and two baths.  Compressed space. But the walls held our laughter and memories. We doubled our space moving into a mid-century modern on a beautiful street which feeds straight into the neighborhood park which has a pond and a swing-set and a slide tower for the children to climb. It is a lovely park, and our home is a well-maintained grand old lady. Are we happier here than in our more modest dwelling?  Not really. We just have more creature comforts and I contend with tackling cleaning 2,000 sq. feet of hickory hardwoods (indigenous from Tennessee) each week.  What makes us happy are the same things which brought joy when we had less.  Our children - mean everything to us.

While the New York Times article is well-written, it is a bit too fluffy of a commentary for me.  It does not directly tie in the issue of home affordability and uncertain futures to a housing crisis created by unfettered migration of complete family units into America during the Biden years.

In 2023, there were an unauthorized 14 million unlawful migrants in the U.S. (These are the ones we know of, and the number is undoubtedly much higher.)  And the noticeable increase in "investors" purchasing family homes to rent them out to multiple migrant families has not only changed the affordable housing market for young American couples, but it has made neighborhoods less desirable for raising nuclear families. Perhaps half of the single-family dwellings on our street now have multiple families under one roof.  Did I mention that many of them do not speak English? We are reduced to micro-hotels with neighbors who we do not know. And worse yet, homes are literally one block away where transient day laborers spend their nights on bunk beds crammed into bedrooms.  This is the (no longer coveted) "Hospital District".  Who wants to live next to 10-12 men without being aware of their potential history of criminal activity?  Certainly it is uncomfortable if you have a daughter.

My husband has a saying:  "Compassion kills".  And while not wishing for this short statement to be taken out of context, it is entirely correct that our "compassion" which has allowed for a massive surge of unlawful entries to our nation has killed the future dreams of young American couples.  One of these dreams is to purchase a home and raise children.  We are witnessing a calculated barrenness in our nation which is going to produce a harvest of insurmountable challenges as childless American couples age.  Beyond the palpable desperation which will be felt as they age alone, will be the unbelievable financial burden which will arise when a generation of elderly begin to decline without the support system of children.

Beyond that -  the walls of their homes will retain few memories.  They will be become miniaturized versions of their youthful selves as they comfort themselves with the images of their vacations to France or Italy.  But there will be no images of the births of their children, first day of school, Christmas stockings on the fireplace mantle.  I believe our nation will be dealing with high levels of exogenous depression in the aging population of the future.

The unlawfully here, have defrauded young American couples of their most cherished dreams. I can attest to the fact that while all children present with challenges, they also provide us with moments of intense happiness.  Our citizens deserve better and they deserve priority.

"Compassion kills."