>It disturbs me deeply and I wonder why. I'm very glad about this; it means I must have gotten something right. :-) >I can't really dispute what you have sai

>It disturbs me deeply and I wonder why. I'm very glad about this; it means I must have gotten something right. :-) >I can't really dispute what you have said other than it is not an inevitability. Societies can choose to change this, Exactly, but that's the problem: societies can choose to change this, but will they? As a pessimist, I say no, other than a few very small countries like those you cite (and even there those are just attempts at change so far; the birthrates in those nations are extremely low). Humans are remarkably bad at seeing impending large problems and collectively working together to change things to avoid them.