For decades we were warned that population growth would overwhelm the planet. Now a different challenge is emerging: many countries aren’t replacing themselves, and that changes almost everything.
I can't see this lower birth rate trend reversing itself any time soon Fred. So many changes over decades have led to this. When I was a kid growing up in a middle class family, every one of my friends mothers were "housewives" who stayed at home and did not have to have a job outside of the house. Shifting of wealth upwards away from the middle class to the oligarchs meant that households needed two bread-winners, making it much more difficult to have and afford families.
Today, social media has a lot to do with relationships not developing as they used to that ended up with babies being born. I'm surprised how many young people I know have no meaningful romantic relationships, and how they don't seem to care all that much. I get the sense that our connected society don't know how to effectively communicate with eachother anymore.
So, tongue in cheek, considering the shortage or workers that this dilemma creates, maybe A.I. is the solution we need and the way to go.
The fight over abortion bans isn’t just about morality—it’s heavily tied to demographic politics. For a long time, I’ve viewed these restrictions as a direct response to anxieties over changing population numbers and an effort to maintain a white majority in a shifting world.
I agree. The big antiabortionists aren't interested in whether POCs get abortions or not (except to the extent that prohibiting them endangers the lives of mothers), but they *really* want to get those white birth rates up.
Thing is, as long as the folks who could be procreating look out into a bleak future, they're not likely to want to have another burden to bear, and as wonderful as kids are (I have 3!), they are also burdens.
I can't see this lower birth rate trend reversing itself any time soon Fred. So many changes over decades have led to this. When I was a kid growing up in a middle class family, every one of my friends mothers were "housewives" who stayed at home and did not have to have a job outside of the house. Shifting of wealth upwards away from the middle class to the oligarchs meant that households needed two bread-winners, making it much more difficult to have and afford families.
Today, social media has a lot to do with relationships not developing as they used to that ended up with babies being born. I'm surprised how many young people I know have no meaningful romantic relationships, and how they don't seem to care all that much. I get the sense that our connected society don't know how to effectively communicate with eachother anymore.
So, tongue in cheek, considering the shortage or workers that this dilemma creates, maybe A.I. is the solution we need and the way to go.
The fight over abortion bans isn’t just about morality—it’s heavily tied to demographic politics. For a long time, I’ve viewed these restrictions as a direct response to anxieties over changing population numbers and an effort to maintain a white majority in a shifting world.
I agree. The big antiabortionists aren't interested in whether POCs get abortions or not (except to the extent that prohibiting them endangers the lives of mothers), but they *really* want to get those white birth rates up.
Thing is, as long as the folks who could be procreating look out into a bleak future, they're not likely to want to have another burden to bear, and as wonderful as kids are (I have 3!), they are also burdens.