Generation Rex

By Anne Lafferty

Hybrid animal/man images from ancient Pantheistic gods are still with us and are still imbued with the ability to terrify with shape-shifting and preternatural strength, such as the were-dogs and werewolves.
And the shape-shifting of the human family? Pantheism is the new religion of nature worship, child sacrifice and its replacements………the Dog Children.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jul 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483534534

Book preview

GENERATION REX

CHAPTER 1

The New Family Model

Come on! We all have them as friends. The ones who call their dogs their ‘kids’. The people who yuck-out over the dirty diaper at your house, watch the baby drool over scattered cheerios and breathe a sigh of relief. Whew! All they need come home to is the training crate and an occasional wee-wee pad by the door.

A surprising number of couples are opting out of the kid venture, and some of them are pretty upfront about the reasons why.

Cathy, the owner of 4 pets had this to say: Pets do not suck away your entire lifestyle or financial resources. They do not cause personal heartache…they are quiet and not too demanding. You do not have to worry about bad influences on your pet. You do not have to take your pet out to public places and annoy all the surrounding people with their bad behavior.

Eve agrees. Speaking of her pet she says: She’s been with me through two boyfriends, marriage, moving to another state…..there is just a lot less worry!

One Omaha couple, Ryan and Kristi, decided early on in their relationship that kids were just not the way to go for them. In an online posting the two adamantly stated that the trend is common and works well for many young and middle-aged couples.

Kristi explains that they decided within the first year of our marriage not to have children. We already had a cat and one dog at that time. The two had positive experiences with animals and their care prior to marriage, so the transition to child care would not have been a quantum leap. However, the couple has been married for nearly ten years now, and currently have 4 dogs. To arguments put forth that raising dogs cannot be compared to raising children, Kristi promptly disagrees.

Having dogs are a pure source of joy, as nothing they do is malicious, and they bring love and companionship. They complete our family unit.

An anonymous blogger had kudos for Kristi: Well, dogs have a big advantage over children. Children spend 3 years pooping on themselves. Then there’s the teens! By the time (dogs) enter their teens, they generally become docile, loving, peaceful, and then die.

I’d rather have a dog over a kid, declares Sara Foster, 30, a Chelsea equities trader who says her French bulldog, Maddie, brings her more joy than a child.

It’s just less work and, honestly, I have more time to go out. You don’t have to get a baby sitter.

And besides, now we have ‘bring your dog to work week’.

But, to balance the equation another blogger retorts, quote: "I know of 3 younger couples and one young single person who all have dogs, and I noticed how they seem to have a role in these people’s lives that children would normally play. Two of the couples even go so far as to refer to their pets as "the kids, or something to that effect. Just about everyone I know that’s my age - ‘Millennial/Gen X’ers’ seem to be terrified of having children for some reason. Hope these ladies enjoy their free birth control now because in the future all these (minorities having children) aren’t going to be too keen on paying for the Social Security of old white spinster women that sit around throwing birthday parties for their pets.

He goes on: I was watching one of those house hunting shows on HGTV the other day, and when they introduced the couple,…… blahblah ...Mary recently quit her job to be a stay-at-home mommy to their two dogs………!"

Sheesh!

He adds: What’s especially creepy is many of these childless dog owners give their dogs people names like Steve, Jack, etc. Gone are the days of Rex, Spot, Rover, etc....Dogs & People have the same names, now!

The Japanese seem not to be creeped-out by the trend, instead, adopting it.

In Japanese society, it’s really hard for women to have a baby and keep a job ... so my girlfriend decided against having a baby, and that’s why we have a dog instead, one Tokyo pet owner told The Guardian.

Sounds like some old Japanese spinsters will be throwing birthday parties for crabby little dogs, too, doesn’t it? In first-world countries like Germany, the USA, Japan and Italy, it appears that pets, particularly dogs, have mainstreamed, become simplified canine kids.

In the USA couples who have dumped diaper duty claim double indignity; along with the ‘yuck’ factor it is just too expensive! The official price tag is stamped at $1.1 million to raise one child, including college tuition and lost wages spent at home with a new baby or a sick child. But while refusing to buy into babies, Americans spent more than $50 Billion on pet paraphernalia in 2011!

The bottom line is that it is also ‘just too stressful’ to raise a child today. And the final word……….

Pets are in many ways like kids but easier and they make you happier than kids do. They don’t cost as much as kids do. You can board them for a week and go to Paris. But I’ve found, much to my chagrin, that people frown when you try to board your children to take a vacation ... It’s certainly a new phase in American cultural development, Jonathan V. Last, senior writer at the Weekly Standard, tells weather.com.

Hmmm………. Dogs love their owners, don’t poop their pants, don’t choose to teethe at midnight, don’t become pregnant (most are neutered!) and don’t need a college savings fund. They simply love and admire