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The global fertility rate is falling

bbc.com

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Re: The global fertility rate is falling

#21

Post by grugagag »

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #9
unstatusthequo wrote: post #3

This may be unpopular, but I already feel the earth is well beyond it’s ideal human population capacity. We are straining resources because of our bad policies and practices and politics.

It may be unpopular, but I agree 100%. I don't want people to suffer unnecessarily. But the more people we add to the planet, the more we exacerbate problems with food, water, Co2 emissions, etc. In the end, something will curtail human population growth. I really hope it's voluntary and painless.

Exactly, let it be our educated decision not starvation, senseless wars and poverty. And the more the human population rose it took into other populations, it led to numerous extinctions, etc

I hope the trend stays like this. It’s not like there are 1000 people left, there are still billions extra

Re: The global fertility rate is falling

#22

Post by Guy2020 »

unstatusthequo wrote: post #3

This may be unpopular, but I already feel the earth is well beyond it’s ideal human population capacity. We are straining resources because of our bad policies and practices and politics.

In my view, you are echoing propaganda. Nothing says humans have to live in cities and burn massive amounts of fossil fuels. The way we are living may be stressful to the planet, but humans aren't the problem... it's the way we are forced to live that is.

Re: The global fertility rate is falling

#23

Post by kilroy_jones »

grugagag wrote: post #14
eranimo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not for the economy

Yes for the planet and yes for the human race too, overpopulation leads to all sort of problems The economy should adapt not the other way around

Agreed, but no one seems to know how we decouple the economy from growth without hurting or angering a lot of people. Maybe we just tear off that bandaid quickly.

Re: The global fertility rate is falling

#24

Post by nutjob2 »

hprotagonist wrote: post #5

Elder care is a pressing issue, but in general isn't this good news?

Not when you realize that the economy is largely a huge ponzi scheme which requires a constant stream of new participants to prop up asset prices and generate economic activity.

The care issue is real, not so much because we need people to look after them, which potentially could be automated, but rather the new generations are the ones paying into the system and funding their pensions.

Re: The global fertility rate is falling

#25

Post by tclancy »

Guy2020 wrote: post #16

Children have become more of a burden than a benefit in many ways. We once had much use for our children. When people were more independent and everyone pretty much had a small business, children were seen as the life blood of that business. Now, we are pretty much expected to fill a role at some large corporation -- which Japan is the greatest example of. Also, the family centered culture has changed to a work cente…

I started to read this waiting for the punchline to a Dad joke. Kids can still mow lawns for sure.

>This stuff is being pushed from the top.

Is this some kind of Sparta thing? Like you all go up to the top of the mountain and someone pushes Dad off? Because if you actually mean there's a "top" that is dictating human sexuality I am deeply, deeply interested in seeing a schematic diagram for how that system works.

>It used to be a mark of shame not to have a large family

When and where was this? As someone who grew up Catholic it feels like that cut both ways.

To be vaguely serious for longer than I want, my wife and I just had a long, unfun conversation about how hard it is to deal with her mom's dementia and I don't know that we could do anywhere near as well with dealing with it if we didn't have a kid of our own. It's a shitty Ponzi schema, but the alternative is being Shakers.

Re: The global fertility rate is falling

#28

Post by michaelmrose »

eranimo wrote: post #8
hprotagonist wrote: post #5

Elder care is a pressing issue, but in general isn't this good news?

Not for the economy

This just means that the strategy of keeping most of the wealth with a tiny minority and expecting the middle class to bear the cost of supporting the old people in wholly separate existences and households paid for by the young isn't tenable.

Some degree of distribution of wealth and multi generational households would render it tenable again.

Re: The global fertility rate is falling

#29

Post by grugagag »

Guy2020 wrote: post #16

Children have become more of a burden than a benefit in many ways. We once had much use for our children. When people were more independent and everyone pretty much had a small business, children were seen as the life blood of that business. Now, we are pretty much expected to fill a role at some large corporation -- which Japan is the greatest example of. Also, the family centered culture has changed to a work cente…

It’s also education and contraception that have a role. I’d also add the high cost of living too as well as rising inequality.

Re: The global fertility rate is falling

#30

Post by young_unixer »

_bxg1 wrote: post #10

There's a short-term problem of society becoming "top-heavy", where there might not be enough young to pay for the continued care of the old. But in the long run this seems like a win. I wonder what impact it might have on climate projections.

A big part of that problem is that most nations have a pension system where the active work force pays for the pension of the elder instead of each person paying their own pension by saving/investing troughout their lives.
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