4 ms·

Population shrinkage is not healthy for a society.

by bhouston 8y ago

xboxnolifes 8y ago
Eating chocolate is bad for dogs.
fjsolwmv 8y ago
In our automation age, it is if you are labor seller and not capital owner.
HaoZeke 8y ago
Right because we should all emulate over populated India and China. Keeping the population down allows for a better standard of living for those who are alive already, and allows for sustainable growth. A population explosion is just not possible to deal with. Imagine more people trying to get into the top schools, thereby killing your chances.
- Fnoord 8y ago
  Hong Kong's density is an excellent example of how it could look. For America though, there's enough room but for certain metropoles throughout the world as well as The Netherlands... no, they're pretty much full.
  - Scarblac 8y ago
    The Netherlands doesn't feel very full compared to many huge metropoles though. I mean I'd prefer the population size to stay the way it is, but I don't think it's close to some theoretical limit at all.
    - Fnoord 8y ago
      Not compared to Hong Kong, of course. There's still some rural areas, farms, etc. The cities are full though, unless you are OK going vertically or buying (read: stealing) land from the peasants. For reference see population density statistics here [1] Either way, the housing market is troubled in The Netherlands. It has been the past decennia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_density https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_density
throwawaymath 8y ago
Why?
paulcole 8y ago
It might be the human race’s best longterm chance to survive the damage we’ve done to the environment.
curun1r 8y ago
Breeding under the replacement rate does not imply population shrinkage. It's a better strategy for a rich nation state to have lower birth rates and poach the best and brightest from other countries. That increases the wealth of native-born citizens as well as improving the lives of those who immigrate whereas overbreeding disperses accumulated inherited wealth.
- kypro 8y ago
  But I thought we need immigrants to do the low paid jobs we don't want to do, not the hard well paid ones? /s
  - ido 8y ago
    it can indeed be both (no sarcasm intended - the menial jobs nobody else wants and the high-skill ones not enough people are capable of doing).
- dev_north_east 8y ago
  And brain draining the countries of the emigrants? Maybe we should be working to fix those places up and not hoover up all the talent.

Population shrinkage is not healthy for a society.

xboxnolifes 8y ago

Eating chocolate is bad for dogs.

fjsolwmv 8y ago

In our automation age, it is if you are labor seller and not capital owner.

HaoZeke 8y ago

Right because we should all emulate over populated India and China. Keeping the population down allows for a better standard of living for those who are alive already, and allows for sustainable growth. A population explosion is just not possible to deal with. Imagine more people trying to get into the top schools, thereby killing your chances.

Fnoord 8y ago
Hong Kong's density is an excellent example of how it could look. For America though, there's enough room but for certain metropoles throughout the world as well as The Netherlands... no, they're pretty much full.
- Scarblac 8y ago
  The Netherlands doesn't feel very full compared to many huge metropoles though. I mean I'd prefer the population size to stay the way it is, but I don't think it's close to some theoretical limit at all.
  - Fnoord 8y ago
    Not compared to Hong Kong, of course. There's still some rural areas, farms, etc. The cities are full though, unless you are OK going vertically or buying (read: stealing) land from the peasants. For reference see population density statistics here [1] Either way, the housing market is troubled in The Netherlands. It has been the past decennia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_density https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_density

throwawaymath 8y ago

Why?

paulcole 8y ago

It might be the human race’s best longterm chance to survive the damage we’ve done to the environment.

curun1r 8y ago

Breeding under the replacement rate does not imply population shrinkage. It's a better strategy for a rich nation state to have lower birth rates and poach the best and brightest from other countries. That increases the wealth of native-born citizens as well as improving the lives of those who immigrate whereas overbreeding disperses accumulated inherited wealth.

kypro 8y ago
But I thought we need immigrants to do the low paid jobs we don't want to do, not the hard well paid ones? /s
- ido 8y ago
  it can indeed be both (no sarcasm intended - the menial jobs nobody else wants and the high-skill ones not enough people are capable of doing).
dev_north_east 8y ago
And brain draining the countries of the emigrants? Maybe we should be working to fix those places up and not hoover up all the talent.