不要因為對未來充滿恐懼就選擇不要孩子

不要因為對未來充滿恐懼就選擇不要孩子

Jessica Kibblewhite grew up the daughter of an astronomer. Her dad, Edward Kibblewhite, invented, among other things, a system that allows scientists to take clearer pictures of stars.

杰西卡·基布懷特是一位天文學家的女兒。她的父親愛德華·基布懷特發(fā)明了一種系統(tǒng)，可以讓科學家們拍攝更清晰的恒星照片。

Given his background, Jessica asked him for help finding clarity on a different subject: starting a family.

考慮到他的背景，杰西卡請他幫忙澄清另一個問題:組建家庭。

The world, Jessica told Edward at StoryCorps last October, seemed like an especially difficult place, and she and her husband had been struggling with the idea of bringing children into it.

去年10月，杰西卡在StoryCorps告訴愛德華，世界似乎是一個特別困難的地方，她和她的丈夫一直在為把孩子帶進這個世界的想法而苦苦掙扎。

She felt scared for the future.

她對未來感到害怕。

Edward, now 75, asks her what the alternative is.

現(xiàn)年75歲的愛德華問她還有什么選擇。

"Not having a kid in the 21st century," Jessica says.

“在21世紀不生孩子，”杰西卡說。

"I think if you do not have children because you fear the future, that is to misunderstand what it means to be human," he says.

“我認為，如果你因為害怕未來而不要孩子，那就誤解了作為人類的意義，”他說。

Edward says he grew up during a time of great fear as well. He was born after World War II, and there was an air force base with a missile site not far from his high school. Students were invited to tour the facility and touch the warhead of a hydrogen bomb.

愛德華說他也是在恐懼中長大的。他出生于二戰(zhàn)后，在離他高中不遠的地方有一個空軍基地和一個導彈基地。學生們被邀請參觀該設施并觸摸氫彈的彈頭。

"We were pretty sure that these missiles would be fired," he says. "I had a whole plan I had worked out – an underground place to go. ... I mean, the whole population believed we would be burned to death."

他說:“我們非常確定這些導彈會被發(fā)射。”“我制定了一個完整的計劃——去一個地下的地方。我的意思是，所有人都相信我們會被燒死。”

The period following World War II was plagued with global fear of imminent, mass annihilation. Edward acknowledges that today's future also holds real fears, but, he tells his daughter, it's vital to remain hopeful.

第二次世界大戰(zhàn)之后的這段時間，全球都在擔心即將發(fā)生的大規(guī)模毀滅。愛德華承認，今天的未來也存在真正的恐懼，但他告訴女兒，保持希望至關(guān)重要。

"Having you as a daughter was a very moving experience, and in the case of my parents, WWII started on Sept. 1, 1939. My sister was born the next year," he says. "So having children is an act of hope, and if you do not have children because of fear, then you have given up hope for the future."

“有你這樣一個女兒是非常感人的經(jīng)歷，就我父母而言，1939年9月1日，二戰(zhàn)開始了。第二年，我的妹妹出生了。”“所以有孩子是一種希望的行為，如果你因為恐懼而沒有孩子，那么你就放棄了對未來的希望。”

For Jessica and her husband, Sam Horn, the StoryCorps conversation played a big role in their decision to try to start a family.

對于杰西卡和她的丈夫薩姆·霍恩來說，StoryCorps的對話在他們決定要建立家庭的過程中起了很大的作用。

"Maybe it's a choice," Jessica says, "to feel hope."

“也許這是一種選擇，”杰西卡說，“去感受希望。”

StoryCorps is a national nonprofit that gives people the chance to interview friends and loved ones about their lives. These conversations are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, allowing participants to leave a legacy for future generations.

StoryCorps是一個全國性的非營利組織，它讓人們有機會采訪朋友和親人的生活。這些對話被保存在國會圖書館的美國民俗中心，讓參與者為后代留下遺產(chǎn)。