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Originally Posted by milo
The welfare state and government policies as far as im aware aren't constructed on a historical basis - ie you do whats best for you at this moment in time - there is no such thing as generational debt, especially if you're talking about something before i (or we) were born.
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This isnt true; the whole modern state pension scheme is built around people giving away their money and then demanding that the next generation supports them in their old age. When you pay taxes towards your state pension, the money isnt being put in a special fund to be given to you after retirement; it's being used to support old people now, and your kids will likewise be forced to support you (or more likely you wont see a penny of it because the whole thing will probably have come crashing down by the time you retire, but whatever)
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Originally Posted by Dante Hicks
Arguably though, psychological traits which lead to wanting to propogate your genes (if genetically influenced themselves) could have been selected over time, but that's dubious.
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Most people dont want to propagate their genes, so they obviously havent. I doubt that attitudes towards having kids have changed significantly since Mendel; people always had a fascination with preserving their family name and suchlike.