21 ms·

Who's complaining about falling birth rates? The planet is overpopulated, fewer humans can only be a good thing.

throwaway2w09 8y ago
The Japanese government for one. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47127738 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47127738 They already have more pensioners than children being born. The same trend can be seen in virtually every single developed country. We are soon to going to not be able to afford to pay these pensioners if there are not enough people paying taxes. Hopefully you don't actually think pensions are somehow grown on trees.
- JoeAltmaier 8y ago
  Ha! Its only hyperbole if it isn't true. Paper money grows on trees! Yes, we can print the money and the world won't end. There's not some automatic hyper-inflation that happens when money is minted. There's so much around already you see. Think of cash as points in a game. If we keep playing games, racking up points, the points don't necessarily become worthless. They may change a little as confidence varies. It's not about the imaginary points. Its about the goods and services. Goods depend, these days, mostly on automation which isn't going away. So little problem there. That leaves services. Yes, they depend entirely on human capital. So we're going to have to automate, train assistance animals, or use technology to do away with the need. Especially among the elderly who traditionally require more services.
saagarjha 8y ago
The Japanese government, who would like a workforce capable of sustaining their economy?
renholder 8y ago
I think the OC certainly could've framed it better but declining birth-rates are what drives certain policies[0,1]. One can look at Germany's perspective on migrants as a direct consequence of that (more people working and contributing to the social fund means less of threat of the social structures hitting insolvency). Though, there's no banners saying, "because of 'x', this is 'y'," one can still derive the subtext from the concerns that the nations are voicing. So, all of this was just a long-winded way to say that it is a bit disingenous to say that people are complaining about falling birth-rates but it is still a valid concern for many countries - even if they don't come out and explicitly say it. [0] - https://www.thelocal.se/20190216/hungary-family-plan-reeks-of-the-1930-swedish-minister https://www.thelocal.se/20190216/hungary-family-plan-reeks-o... [1] - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32929962 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32929962
deleted 8y ago
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fiblye 8y ago
Not a day goes by without western media conglomerates publishing an article about how the Japanese are going extinct and need mass immigration now. I see some local news talking about some minor labor shortages with convenience stores and whatnot, but opening up BBC or CNN you'd think Japan is on the brink of absolute collapse due to being underpopulated with only 120 million people on a tiny, mountainous, barely arable archipelago.
- SolaceQuantum 8y ago
  "Not a day goes by without western media conglomerates publishing an article about how the Japanese are going extinct and need mass immigration now." This isn't the cause of two-income households because Japan is quite broadly one-income households...? This is almost entirely irrelevant to two-income household discussion. (I'm not decided personally how I feel about it, merely pointing out this specific comment is making 0 sense to me)
  - fiblye 8y ago
    I was specifically replying to the comment about falling birth rates.
  - swebs 8y ago
    The parent comment asked, "Who's complaining about falling birth rates?" and he answered that specific question.
p_roz 8y ago
“The specialization of labor is limited by the extent of the market” - Adam Smith Having more people is better for us on net because it gives us more human capital and allows us to develop technologies that pay off at scale. As the world population has grown, our society has gotten wealthier on a per-capita basis, and we still have more than enough food to go around. It’s not true that overpopulation is happening or that increased population is a negative phenomenon.

The Japanese government for one. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47127738 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47127738 They already have more pensioners than children being born. The same trend can be seen in virtually every single developed country. We are soon to going to not be able to afford to pay these pensioners if there are not enough people paying taxes. Hopefully you don't actually think pensions are somehow grown on trees.

JoeAltmaier 8y ago
Ha! Its only hyperbole if it isn't true. Paper money grows on trees! Yes, we can print the money and the world won't end. There's not some automatic hyper-inflation that happens when money is minted. There's so much around already you see. Think of cash as points in a game. If we keep playing games, racking up points, the points don't necessarily become worthless. They may change a little as confidence varies. It's not about the imaginary points. Its about the goods and services. Goods depend, these days, mostly on automation which isn't going away. So little problem there. That leaves services. Yes, they depend entirely on human capital. So we're going to have to automate, train assistance animals, or use technology to do away with the need. Especially among the elderly who traditionally require more services.

saagarjha 8y ago

The Japanese government, who would like a workforce capable of sustaining their economy?

renholder 8y ago

I think the OC certainly could've framed it better but declining birth-rates are what drives certain policies[0,1]. One can look at Germany's perspective on migrants as a direct consequence of that (more people working and contributing to the social fund means less of threat of the social structures hitting insolvency). Though, there's no banners saying, "because of 'x', this is 'y'," one can still derive the subtext from the concerns that the nations are voicing. So, all of this was just a long-winded way to say that it is a bit disingenous to say that people are complaining about falling birth-rates but it is still a valid concern for many countries - even if they don't come out and explicitly say it. [0] - https://www.thelocal.se/20190216/hungary-family-plan-reeks-of-the-1930-swedish-minister https://www.thelocal.se/20190216/hungary-family-plan-reeks-o... [1] - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32929962 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32929962

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

fiblye 8y ago

Not a day goes by without western media conglomerates publishing an article about how the Japanese are going extinct and need mass immigration now. I see some local news talking about some minor labor shortages with convenience stores and whatnot, but opening up BBC or CNN you'd think Japan is on the brink of absolute collapse due to being underpopulated with only 120 million people on a tiny, mountainous, barely arable archipelago.

SolaceQuantum 8y ago
"Not a day goes by without western media conglomerates publishing an article about how the Japanese are going extinct and need mass immigration now." This isn't the cause of two-income households because Japan is quite broadly one-income households...? This is almost entirely irrelevant to two-income household discussion. (I'm not decided personally how I feel about it, merely pointing out this specific comment is making 0 sense to me)
- fiblye 8y ago
  I was specifically replying to the comment about falling birth rates.
- swebs 8y ago
  The parent comment asked, "Who's complaining about falling birth rates?" and he answered that specific question.

p_roz 8y ago

“The specialization of labor is limited by the extent of the market” - Adam Smith Having more people is better for us on net because it gives us more human capital and allows us to develop technologies that pay off at scale. As the world population has grown, our society has gotten wealthier on a per-capita basis, and we still have more than enough food to go around. It’s not true that overpopulation is happening or that increased population is a negative phenomenon.