China's Declining Birth Rates: Maternity Wards Are Closing
China's Declining Birth Rates: Maternity Wards Are Closing
stoppopulationdecline.org
China's Declining Birth Rates: Maternity Wards Are Closing
6 comments
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Didn't work that well; in the end, it's the same like any other country: Increased education and rising affluence.
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There are huge problems with declining birth rates. Mostly due to the demographic mismatch of a large number of old people being supported by a small number of young people.
You might say that's a temporary problem. Eventually all the old people will die and a new normal will be established. However, a country's infrastructure works at scale and doesn't become more efficient or cheaper with less people. Quite the opposite. Fewer people means a complete redesign of infrastructure.
Fewer people also means less chances of someone doing something groundbreaking. Problems like climate change need innovative solutions. A decline in birthrates isn't going to fix it, but fewer people overall means fewer people working on these types of problems, meaning it'll take longer to solve. We're already on a time crunch for these things.
Most people would have more children if they could. Birthrates are declining due to outside factors like increases in cost of living and difficulties associated with child care. We can't force people to have kids to fix declining birth rates, but we can fix issues preventing people from having the children they want.
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It's a tough situation, but much of our progress has been on this ponzi population scheme, and it's just not sustainable any more. A population that's a pyramid (ie significantly more young than old) is an ever-growing one, and currently we're pushing the limits of sustainability as it is.
I do believe that a complete overhaul is in order, not just infrastructure, but how our economies and societies work.
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6 comments
stoppopulationdecline.org?
Really? Yeah. I don't think I will.
There are a few people who like to spam that site. Population decline is only a negative to the ruling class' bottom line. For the rest of humanity and all life on earth, it is a fantastic thing.