Does it make sense to say "it's better to not exist" (antinatalism) when we all already didn't exist, yet we still came to exist? How can not existing be better if it didn't stop you from coming to exist?

 Sri Krishna makes it clear in Bhagavad Gita that it’s impossible to not exist, and we didn’t come to exist at some point in time. All living entities are eternal spirit souls distinct from the bodies they are in.

For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain. Bg 2.20

Once that is understood it’s a question of where to exist and what to do.

Trying to find happiness through sense-gratification in the material world is considered less intelligent. Being with Krishna in a loving relationship in the spiritual world is recommended.

But not everyone accepts Bhagavad Gita, so we can look at antinatalism from a secular viewpoint.

Many antinatalists find meaning in spreading their philosophy, trying to reduce suffering by persuading others not to reproduce. That mission gives them a reason to continue existing. If they had never existed they wouldn’t be able to do it. So the conclusion is it’s better to exist, if you try to persuade others that it’s better not to exist, all the while resisting the better option of not existing. It sounds a bit like a book explaining why books are useless.

You ask a good question: “How can not existing be better if it didn't stop you from coming to exist?” Not existing has no causal power, no agency and no power to evaluate. Non existence being better can only be determined once there is existence. If non existence were better then it should be able to prevent existence, which is worse, but since it can’t how can it be considered better when existence offers the options of continuing to exist or ceasing to?

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