An “elite” couple who say they’re breeding to save the global population have made the news again – and quickly met the internet’s wrath.
Simone and Malcolm Collins have caused more than just a subtle stir on Twitter this week, after appearing in a Telegraph article where they espouse “pronatalism” – a term which means pro-birth.
According to the piece titled, “Meet the ‘elite’ couples breeding to save mankind”, this is becoming an increasingly popular movement within Silicon Valley.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk, for instance, has had 10 children with three different women, and believes “civilisation is going to crumble” unless everyone starts having more kids.
The Collins, who describe themselves as politically conservative, are also trying to stop global decline in population by personally having as many babies as possible.
They told the newspaper that they were aware that a focus on preventing falling birth rates is often linked to neo-Nazis, but personally reject racism and the concept of a homogenous population. They are instead hoping to have a diverse range of cultures.
Malcolm Collins also dismissed any links to Margaret Atwood’s famous The Handmaid’s Tale, saying his response is: “Do you know what happens if we, the voluntary movement, fails...?”
He suggested that if the eight billion members of the human race were an animal species, it would fall into the “endangered” category by now.
The couple have three children – one of whom went throughout genetic screening and embryo selection so she’d be less likely to become obese or suffer from anxiety – but are allegedly hoping to have at least four more.
Naturally, Twitter was quick to jump on the pair and accuse them of promoting the dubious practice of eugenics. That’s where you reproduce only to increase the chances of desirable characteristics. Safe to say, Twitter users are not a fan of that.
And some struggled to believe what they were seeing is real...
...Or just compared the entire piece to “dropping cinder blocks on my feet”.
Of course, plenty of Twitter users also took the concept and put their own favourite “elite” breeders (aka most chaotic TV couples) in the frame instead.