You are only a zero if you have the right to vote and don't.

That's sad.

Nice post, Charles. Thanks for that graphic.

"When you are nothing but a mere thing (a clump of cells) you are something; but when you are finally an actual breathing person, you are nothing—a zero." Bingo. That's always how I've felt about the failure of anti-abortion protesters to speak up for child welfare and public education; it's interesting to look at it with respect to maternity leave.

The state could easily address this by making people on family leave eligible for unemployment benefits. May not cover all the income lost, but would help.

this'll make me no friends, but oh-what-the-hell... how about some rewards for those of us who don't add to an overpopulated planet? ("you got your reward, you @#$!face bastard!! you don't have to listen to screaming babies in the middle of the night" ...au-contraire)

Pro-life isn't about saving babies, it's about restricting sex.

@theophrastus: As humans (yourself included) get older and less useful, they require a fresh supply of young people to pay taxes and invent things and generally keep society functioning.

You're doing anyone any favors by not replacing yourself.

They get 12 weeks in fucking Pakistan?? Man, we suck.

@6: If you aren't reproducing, you aren't relevant. Sorry. The purpose of society is to ensure a future for our descendants. You have no descendants, so have a nice life, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Ultimately, it's society's job to help people with kids. If you don't want to have kids, that's fine, the rest of us will cover for you, but don't pretend you're being noble.

@9,

Democratic Republic of Congo also has mandated maternity leave, but, given that the government has no power outside Kinshasa, likely has no enforcement mechanism (aside from profoundly corrupt government employees), and likely hosts very few employers who give a flying fuck about the law, I'm going to take a wild guess that approximately zero Congolese women benefit from maternity leave.

I'll also hazard a guess that a very small percentage of Pakistani women benefit from their country's maternity leave.

Every time we rank behind Pakistan and Mexico at something an angel loses its wings.

well, we don't have a federal mandate for maternity leave. but plenty of companies and local governments provide it for their employees. some even provide paternal leave.

realistically, that's how it will stay until the 2020 census is complete, and congressional districts can be de-gerrymandered by state governments that are theoretically run by democrats who have gotten their shit together and taken them back from the GOP and their money. because until then, the GOP will run the house.

AMERICA!!!
FUCK YEAH!!!

@1 - You're really convinced that voting actually makes that big of a difference, eh? That the politicians don't fundamentally enact only legislation that the rich classes want, and none that the poor classes want, regardless of whom gets elected?

Maternity leave has never been on the federal political radar, despite Canada having 50 weeks (50 weeks!, that's a whole year including Xmas vacation.)

The divisive issues are chattered about, but the issues that would join us together are barely breathed.

Remember, BushCo wasn't even actually elected. Twice. And Obama is steadfastly continuing the same projects as any other president - drone attacks, no-charge forever-detention, bailouts of banks, etc. etc. He's just a kindlier, more articulate face.

The only reason we're getting anything vaguely like a slightly better healthcare system is because it's fundamentally more costly and a drag on the economy to keep doing it the way we have been doing it.

We only have two major political parties, for god's sake. WTF?

@15 Sorry, I just can't bring myself to be as cynical as you. But I understand it. If liberals got off their asses in every. single. election. we'd have a much greater degree of benefits and that's for fucking sure.

@16 - Don't get me wrong. I'm pissed & I know the score, but I still vote, every time. I think it makes a difference locally -- as in Seattle/King County. But it doesn't make a difference federally, and I have my doubts at the state level also.

If you pay enough attention, you'll see the game is rigged eventually. Usually people don't notice until they are personally affected. Like getting thrown in solitary for 6 months because you might happen to know some people who committed petty property crimes due to their politics.

I'm a lucky one. My local Seattle job, the average wage of which is over $15/hour, gave me six weeks of paid paternity leave. It was really nice. They even let me take three weeks as part time work, so I didn't have to go back full time for a full nine weeks. Pretty shitty on a world-wide scale, but damn if most people were shocked when I told them.

Now, my wife's employer is a different story. She worked for the Seattle Diocese as a teacher. I think it goes without saying, but the Seattle Diocese is a much huger enterprise than the place I work, which has about 116 total employees. Despite this huge disparity, she got nothing. Zilcho. The time she took off she could take off because she saved up five years of sick time. Fuck the Catholic Church. They may talk about supporting families, but they sure don't when it costs them money.

If people want to have kids then they should pay for it themselves. That or everyone should get some number of weeks off every x number of years, and they can use it for having a kid or for going on vacation. There is no reason why we should subsidize people having lots of children.

@10: You just outlined why he shouldn't have to pay any taxes that pay for public education or other children-specific services. But yet he does, despite the fact that neither he nor his (non-existent) descendants will ever make use of them. You also implied that he should be kicked out of society until he has children. I assume neither were intentional.

And seriously, no one has posted the George Carlin bit about this? Not even a quote? Really? I am ashamed for all of you. Fine. I'll do it.

"If you're pre-born, you're fine. If you're pre-school, you're fucked." - George Carlin

You can always move to France and get your free college, 5 weeks of paid vacation, a 35 hour work week... but then you have to have a license to buy your guns and some women don't shave.
Sicko - Life in France
http://youtu.be/6UwQ2fyEgzo

@10: So people who are different from you are not real people, huh?

That's nice.