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For the USA, this probably isn't a problem as long as we allow immigration the way we do now. Here's the population pyramid diagram for the USA: https://www.po

For the USA, this probably isn't a problem as long as we allow immigration the way we do now. Here's the population pyramid diagram for the USA: https://www.populationpyramid.net/united-states-of-america/2017/ https://www.populationpyramid.net/united-states-of-america/2... For Japan: https://www.populationpyramid.net/japan/2017/ https://www.populationpyramid.net/japan/2017/ For the whole world: https://www.populationpyramid.net/world/2017/ https://www.populationpyramid.net/world/2017/ Ideally, the "pyramid" would be a cylinder, with all ages being roughly the same distribution. This would be a population that is not growing or shrinking. You can see that Japan's younger population is less than it's older population, for the whole world there are many younger people than older... and for the USA it's pretty close to a cylinder. So will this demographic time bomb hit America? Probably not.

porpoisely 8y ago
Isn't allowing immigration like we do just going to create an even greater demographic time bomb in the future? Eventually, immigration is going to decline and we are going to be faced with an even greater problem because the population is so much larger. And that's not factoring in climate change issues. Shifting millions of people from countries that cause very little pollution on a per capita basis to the country that leads the world in per capita basis is going to add to climate and pollution issues. Seems like we are between a rock and a hard place.
- growlist 8y ago
  The BBC has pushed the line a couple of times recently that 'people think the UK is overcrowded, but there's actually loads of room left!'. Somehow the environmental consequences of concreting over the countryside magically disappear when it might lead us to question open borders.
  - FiveSquared 8y ago
    But that’s in the very far future. Most people are in their 20s, they take less befitis (due to not knowing how/cultural independence), and they are typically healthier due to coming from a poorer country.
- downrightmike 8y ago
  The long play is that by allowing immigration will make the USA the youngest nation in the near future, and beyond that, immigration from previously 1st world countries because the American economy is much better for them than their own. Younger nations have more workers to keep social security afloat.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    One day these young workers get old and need social security. You can't rely on a constant influx of young people forever.
    - downrightmike 8y ago
      It hasn't stopped since 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
      - maxxxxx 8y ago
        The whole battle about immigration shows to me that the country is filling up slowly. For a long time they could just settle on empty land or take it from native americans but that's not possible anymore.
- jacobolus 8y ago
  > Isn't allowing immigration going to create an even greater demographic time bomb in the future? No. This particular problem happens when there is a bubble of elderly people to care for, and not enough young people to fund/provide the care. Importing a bunch of young families compensates for the declining birth rate among the native population, and helps smooth out demographic changes. * * * There are certainly also other serious global problems resulting from providing a resource-intensive “modern” lifestyle to billions of people.
zaarn 8y ago
I would disagree on two points; that a cylinder is desirable and that you need immigration to fix the inverted pyramid. On point two; the inverted pyramid is IMO largely a symptom of a changing demographic layout. Younger people create less families and briefly cause the pyramid to invert while the ripple of low births goes through the entire lifetime of a human. On point one; if your pyramid is a cylinder, it implies people die at any age in a uniform distribution. It is unlikely this will be the case ever. IMO a somewhat slopped pyramid is okay, people tend to die as they get older and this lessens the costs on social welfare systems (plus being more realistic).

porpoisely 8y ago

Isn't allowing immigration like we do just going to create an even greater demographic time bomb in the future? Eventually, immigration is going to decline and we are going to be faced with an even greater problem because the population is so much larger. And that's not factoring in climate change issues. Shifting millions of people from countries that cause very little pollution on a per capita basis to the country that leads the world in per capita basis is going to add to climate and pollution issues. Seems like we are between a rock and a hard place.

growlist 8y ago
The BBC has pushed the line a couple of times recently that 'people think the UK is overcrowded, but there's actually loads of room left!'. Somehow the environmental consequences of concreting over the countryside magically disappear when it might lead us to question open borders.
- FiveSquared 8y ago
  But that’s in the very far future. Most people are in their 20s, they take less befitis (due to not knowing how/cultural independence), and they are typically healthier due to coming from a poorer country.
downrightmike 8y ago
The long play is that by allowing immigration will make the USA the youngest nation in the near future, and beyond that, immigration from previously 1st world countries because the American economy is much better for them than their own. Younger nations have more workers to keep social security afloat.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  One day these young workers get old and need social security. You can't rely on a constant influx of young people forever.
  - downrightmike 8y ago
    It hasn't stopped since 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
    - maxxxxx 8y ago
      The whole battle about immigration shows to me that the country is filling up slowly. For a long time they could just settle on empty land or take it from native americans but that's not possible anymore.
jacobolus 8y ago
> Isn't allowing immigration going to create an even greater demographic time bomb in the future? No. This particular problem happens when there is a bubble of elderly people to care for, and not enough young people to fund/provide the care. Importing a bunch of young families compensates for the declining birth rate among the native population, and helps smooth out demographic changes. * * * There are certainly also other serious global problems resulting from providing a resource-intensive “modern” lifestyle to billions of people.

zaarn 8y ago

I would disagree on two points; that a cylinder is desirable and that you need immigration to fix the inverted pyramid. On point two; the inverted pyramid is IMO largely a symptom of a changing demographic layout. Younger people create less families and briefly cause the pyramid to invert while the ripple of low births goes through the entire lifetime of a human. On point one; if your pyramid is a cylinder, it implies people die at any age in a uniform distribution. It is unlikely this will be the case ever. IMO a somewhat slopped pyramid is okay, people tend to die as they get older and this lessens the costs on social welfare systems (plus being more realistic).