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The birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in 30 years

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41–50 of 134 posts

Re: The birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in 30 years

#41

There is a theory that the root cause of these problems is the continued dismantling of traditional gender roles. If women had not entered the workforce in massive numbers things could have continued based on old trajectories. The male breadwinner/housewife lifestyle was a formula that made it ideal for raising children cheaply, even if it didn’t seem like the most equitable. If I had a good job and settled with a wi…

> There is a theory that the root cause of these problems is the continued dismantling of traditional gender roles.

Except that Japan has kept traditional gender roles, where the woman leaves her job when marries, and they have one of the lower fertility rates in the world.

At the same time, Sweden with very strong gender equality has a higher fertility rate than other European countries. Even that it is still low compared with historical hights.

Re: The birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in 30 years

#42
post #35
post #3

There were a couple points in there that could, may, should have been left on the cutting room floor. Some good points were made however. Social Security in its original Ponzi-Schemesque form will end up even worse for wear with declining birthrates. (Not saying Social Security is bad in concept, but it only works in times of sharp population growth, and even then, banking on the youth to carry you just because seems…

> (Not saying Social Security is bad in concept, but it only works in times of sharp population growth, and even then, banking on the youth to carry you just because seems squicky to many ). Social Security works with economic growth. It doesn't matter if you get 10 babies or 10 robots. Automation makes possible to keep proper living standards without exponential population growth. Social Security, as other services…

I believe you mean that some theoretical structure vaguely like social security could work, in principle, without population growth. However, the social security system we actually have acquires its funds from the income of individuals.

You could structure social security as a tax on capital, but that isn't how it currently works.

Re: The birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in 30 years

#43
post #35
post #3

There were a couple points in there that could, may, should have been left on the cutting room floor. Some good points were made however. Social Security in its original Ponzi-Schemesque form will end up even worse for wear with declining birthrates. (Not saying Social Security is bad in concept, but it only works in times of sharp population growth, and even then, banking on the youth to carry you just because seems…

> (Not saying Social Security is bad in concept, but it only works in times of sharp population growth, and even then, banking on the youth to carry you just because seems squicky to many ). Social Security works with economic growth. It doesn't matter if you get 10 babies or 10 robots. Automation makes possible to keep proper living standards without exponential population growth. Social Security, as other services…

Self driving trucks don’t pay payroll taxes (as distinct from general income tax). The engineers and mechanics maintaining them do, but if the net cost of them plus the tech isn’t cheaper than the current human driving approach then the industry wouldn’t be switching to it anyway.

Re: The birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in 30 years

#44
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I avoid Vox articles due to the unsubtle feminist ideologies > (...) recent cringe Vox interview with Jordan Peterson that kept trying put words in his mouth > (...) I see no future for myself outside of being someone's mortgage hound or alimony sugar daddy. That escalated quickly!

It is on the mind of every young person. It is becoming more common to do everything on your own. You cannot rely on a good partner to share and build a life together with. The traditional routes and social contract are broken. That is why many young people are listening to lectures on youtube and voted for nationalism. But hey, downvote me into oblivion and ridicule me, I could care less. Just sharing my insights an…

Hey, I'm not a soy boy, I'm a soy man, and I'm up to my eyeballs in cute, fun, financially self-sufficient women.

Shame they show so much interest when you're engaged to another cute, fun, actualized lady, eh?? Sorry, to use the jargon you might understand....cute, fun, actualized female.

Re: The birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in 30 years

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much appreciated man. Yeah, I have been doing the digital nomad lifestyle and lived abroad for a few weeks at a time for the past five years. I do see the trap that befalls most expats and am aware of risks. The months that I spend abroad are the happiest time of my life, when I come back to the states and can't get a date, am told I am toxic and a potential rapist and have to live in a city where homelessness is spi…

If you are constantly getting turned down for dates, you are doing something wrong - probably approaching the wrong kind of people in the first place. Instead of looking for the super hot chick at the bar and then using cheesy pickup lines, why don't you seek out people who share your same interests, even if they don't seem like "your type". Most times you'll find their company vastly more enjoyable than the hot bar…

lmao buddy it probably has more to do with the "potential rapist" thing

Re: The birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in 30 years

#46
As a 24 year old married man sitting in the nursery with my premature son, I feel truly sad that more people cannot experience this. I don't have a house, I rent my apartment, we share a car and we both (were) working. So what? Time marches on.

So many people seem cynical about having kids or doing anything else involving sacrificing happiness for meaning. And yet people complain of indulgence and a lack of meaning? It confuses me. You can have difficult but meaningful if you want: start a company and a family. You can also have happy and (likely) less meaningful: go all in on hedonism.

People can't seem to cope with all the opportunity and optionality modern life presents. Makes people anxious it seems. So much self loathing (don't have kids for the environment?). If you don't want kids, don't have them. If you do, have them. They will not starve and you won't either.

Life will never be easy, to expect it to be is somewhere in between whining and delusion.

Re: The birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in 30 years

#47
post #35
post #3

There were a couple points in there that could, may, should have been left on the cutting room floor. Some good points were made however. Social Security in its original Ponzi-Schemesque form will end up even worse for wear with declining birthrates. (Not saying Social Security is bad in concept, but it only works in times of sharp population growth, and even then, banking on the youth to carry you just because seems…

> (Not saying Social Security is bad in concept, but it only works in times of sharp population growth, and even then, banking on the youth to carry you just because seems squicky to many ). Social Security works with economic growth. It doesn't matter if you get 10 babies or 10 robots. Automation makes possible to keep proper living standards without exponential population growth. Social Security, as other services…

> Social Security works with economic growth. It doesn't matter if you get 10 babies or 10 robots.

This would be true except the SS tax ceiling is extremely low. SS does not scale on the rich past $128,400.

One man owning 10 robots will pay less SS than 10 workers.

This is the whole reason why the "crisis" of SS is vastly overstated and a political choice, given the obvious available solutions.

Re: The birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in 30 years

#49
post #34

Why would we have kids and suffer when we could not have kids and enjoy life to the fullest? We make just enough to have a really good life without kids or have a really stressful life with them. We don’t even have a house yet (and I mostly don’t want one, but that’s another conversation). I ran the numbers, and I didn’t like the outcome. Everyone that I know that has kids is sleep deprived, unable to do much of anyt…

I was totally the same.

Just had my first 9mo ago. I’m exhausted. I’m 44 years old (and not financially stable yet due to divorce). It’s hard work at this age. But is it worth it? Absolutely.

I had no affection for children at all before this. I don’t (even now) like other people’s kids that much. But today I came home from a long day of filing SR&ED paperwork (Canadian research tax benefit) and my daughter would just not go to sleep - awful night. But I’m happy. The wonderful things about having kids aren’t in the shitty crap you go through every day. They are in the look that child gives you when you get home. That lasts forever.

Re: The birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been in 30 years

#50
post #33
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pick up artist community seems fairly toxic..

Because of what it is inherently or bad actors soiling it for everyone else?

It's both. Inherently bad and bad actors promoting it in bad faith.

PUA in a nutshell is lying to women, degrading them etc in a way to manipulate someone into a relationship. It is toxic to the core.

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