[No comments on my April Fool's piece about the Hacker State? Does this mean it was a flop or too successful?]
Many countries have a problem with low birth rates. It's a real crisis in Japan for example, they'll basically die out in a few generations if things don't change.
I had not heard it is also a problem in my native Denmark. But it is. One birth per 100 people, that's catastrophic if you want to maintain a population and want it to be mostly native.
Maybe it's tied to Satisfaction. If people are generally satisfied, why shake things up?
The big Danish travel agency Spies has made a daring commercial which gives a prize to a winner amongst those who can prove in the future that their child was conceived on one of their Spies travels!
(I can't figure out how to embed a Youboob video when posting from my iPad. Neither the yt app nor their web site gives the code. Any ideas?)
13 comments:
Hey, I most certainly DID comment on April 1 @ 15:13:00.
Who does Denmark think is going to keep their welfare state afloat?
Hint: The chickens are coming home to roost.
Sorry, Anon, you did and I liked it. Turns out there's a bug on me getting the comments emails.
Most of the western world has the same problem. A high proportion of the middle-class see having children as an expensive proposition, due to costs and loss of income. Thanks to the housing bubbles they are also very over committed. So many do not have children, and average children per woman is about 1 to 1.5 in most of the developed world. The lower socio-economic groups still have many children because they see the governments family assistance as a good deal. Because family environment socio-economic status is an important factor in children future status these end up with the low skilled job which there isn't much demand for.
The response most countries have taken is to increase immigration, it's what we do in Australia. The problem is that it can be very unpopular, especially now that our migration is more from asia and the middle east, rather than Britian.
The Missourian...hm, he sounds just like that moron Kent McManigal or whatever his name is. I wonder...could another person of that colossal stupidity exist in the world, or are they one and the same? Have Kent and The Missourian ever been photographed together?!
Anonymous, you didn't answer my question, and I even gave you a hint. Who's the moron now?
Note: If you want to have an adult debate about my comment, count me in. If you just want to insult me and call me names, you know where you can stick it, right?
Economists fear a low birth rate because it challenges their myth of infinite growth. Don't believe the hype. The Japanese aren't going to "die out."
The point you're missing is, who's going to fund the welfare state if the native population keeps plummeting? The answer is, immigrants. Immigrants who may not share the historical ideals of the native population. What's the inevitable result of that? The end of the local culture. That is, no more Denmark. No more Danish culture.
That's what eventually happens to any society that basically decides to quit breeding: It ends.
No, it changes, it doesn't end.
Anonymous, you didn't answer my question, and I even gave you a hint. Who's the moron now?
You, for assuming every anonymous comment is from the same person. Of course, you don't need anyone to tell you how stupid you are. You know.
Anonymous, what happened to the Venetians? The Etruscans? The Aztecs? The Apaches? The Minoans? The Gauls? The Vikings? The Minoans? The Incas? And on and on, throughout history. They didn't just "change." Their cultures ENDED. Thousands upon thousands of them.
Try reading a book for a change. Say, "The Parable of the Tribes," for example. See if you can find a clue.
PS: And I can understand why you prefer to remain anonymous. Most stupid people do. It's kind of embarrassing to be so stupid, right?
Sigh.
The Venetians, Etruscans, Aztecs, Apaches, Minoans, and the Minoans were dirty liberal welfare queens. Luckily, today we have internet commentators to steer us away from such a fate.
"Dirty liberal welfare queens"?
Ah, I must have hit on a sore spot.
Sorry!
Troll.
Anonymous, what happened to the Venetians? The Etruscans? The Aztecs? The Apaches? The Minoans? The Gauls? The Vikings? The Minoans? The Incas? And on and on, throughout history. They didn't just "change." Their cultures ENDED. Thousands upon thousands of them.
Most of those are still around. The Vikings weren't exactly a society, they were one aspect of a society. Many of those you listed are still around, including the Vikings, but the ones that aren't...well, you said "That's what eventually happens to any society that basically decides to quit breeding: It ends," and of course those you listed didn't end because they quit breeding.
PS: And I can understand why you prefer to remain anonymous. Most stupid people do. It's kind of embarrassing to be so stupid, right?
This is why I love you - I just have to give you the rope.
P.S. The Parable of the Tribes? I can't believe that's still in print. It's an opinion piece. These days, it's generally considered a good idea to provide some evidence. Parable is right. I'm not surprised you'd recommend it.
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