Global population will basically top out at 9-10bn. I look forward to the problems we will face then, and the apocalyptic narratives the media will invent about this new problem. Here's my shot at a few: - Even with better quality of life its going to be hard to make people who are over 70 work productively. But without children less and less people will need to take care of this large old age group. And they will ne…
A lot of these problems can go away if we can get automation right and done soon enough (though it comes with other problems itself). With automation Western nations need not rely on immigrants as much for labor as their own populations decline and age. Some services can also become a lot cheaper, like food delivery and even the food itself. I often think we frame things poorly. Wealth inequality is a problem the sam…
India defuses its population bomb: fertility falls to two children per woman
181–190 of 427 posts
Re: India defuses its population bomb: fertility falls to two children per woman
#182Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. Think about the fact that the result of a low birth-rate with better medical tech keeping older people from dying when they otherwise would have. The result will be a far higher percentage of voters in democracies will be beneficiaries of the work of people younger than them. They will increasingly vote to expand the benefits they receive, at the expense of the younger folks who have to pay higher taxes to fu…
That won't end until young people actually show up to polls just as significantly. Politicians cater to their voting constituents and the elderly show up to vote stronger. Some of this is due to our suspect "you have this 1 Tuesday to do it" voting day. But what young people can do is make it socially unacceptable to not vote like the elderly do to each other.
Re: India defuses its population bomb: fertility falls to two children per woman
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
> For sure. But at some point there won't be enough humans to run an advanced society. How can we acknowledge that we need a lot of people to run the sort of society we ended up with today without also reasoning that the more advanced society we might achieve in 100 years might need a lot more people? There's nothing special about 10 billion people. People have been throwing out numbers as "overpopulation tipping poi…
Humans are resources in a general sense. More humans means more resources which you can throw at various challenges, problems. So you are right. More humans has benefits. But unfettered growth isn't sustainable, this has been proved again and again. So what we need is controlled growth or at least sustainable levels. Right now we are switching into a decrease which will be very jarring and not sustainable. We've neve…
Re: India defuses its population bomb: fertility falls to two children per woman
#184"Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground" [1] From the above portion of scripture, I wonder why we humans, are so concerned about population growth. Children are a blessing from God, have as many as you'd like. 1. https://biblehub.com/genesis/1-28.htm
Re: India defuses its population bomb: fertility falls to two children per woman
#185Taking this as an opportunity to plug the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT). Pay no attention to the tongue-in-cheek name, it has nothing to do with mass suicide or genocide, and merely advocates for us to stop breeding. From https://www.vhemt.org/ : > Phasing out the human species by voluntarily ceasing to breed will allow Earth's biosphere to return to good health. Crowded conditions and resource shortage…
Re: India defuses its population bomb: fertility falls to two children per woman
#186Re: India defuses its population bomb: fertility falls to two children per woman
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is the goal to get rich? That seems lame and shortsighted
If the country does not get richer faster than it gets older, the increasingly older population will suffer, having to work till they're older and getting less financial support (healthcare, pensions etc) because there would be proportionally fewer healthy young people to pay in to the system.
Re: India defuses its population bomb: fertility falls to two children per woman
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree, although I don't look at Christianity as religion, from my understanding of the new testament..Christ was crucified basically because he didn't follow "the law of their fathers"..religion essentially. The aim is not to convince though, but to raise the question, why does our generation think that anything scriptural cannot be treated as fact. Why are newtons laws fact, but not his convictions? Are we so take…
There is an obvious answer to that: Newton's laws match our observations of reality, ignoring relativistic effects. Scripture is written by someone to reflect their opinions. They often have truths in them, but they're just a story. They don't reflect reality any more than Harry Potter does. To answer your second question: science is not based on a god or gods. Scientific thinking often branched out of religion, but…
PS: Note that I avoid the word religion, as it dilutes Christianity, The Gospel of the New Testament.
Re: India defuses its population bomb: fertility falls to two children per woman
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
I assume people not consuming as much as the people in the EU and USA have a goal of consuming as much as the people in the EU and USA.
They very much do, but now they have to pay "carbon tax" invented by people who were responsible for most of the pollution until China
Re: India defuses its population bomb: fertility falls to two children per woman
#190"Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground" [1] From the above portion of scripture, I wonder why we humans, are so concerned about population growth. Children are a blessing from God, have as many as you'd like. 1. https://biblehub.com/genesis/1-28.htm
Maybe because most of the ~8 billion people on the planet don't care about a random passage in the Bible, or even know that it exists?