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> there's going to be plenty of others in developing countries that will more than offset your decision not to have kids. First, this is at least racism-adjace

> there's going to be plenty of others in developing countries that will more than offset your decision not to have kids. First, this is at least racism-adjacent as far as I'm concerned. Second, birth rates are declining throughout the world thanks to increased access to reproductive technology, improvements in income and quality of life, and increased urbanization: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/birthrates-declining-global-fertility-decline-empty-planet-covid-19-urbanization-migration-population/ https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/birthrates-declining-...

JohnWhigham 5y ago
Nothing I said was racist. Many developing countries have a higher birth rate than the US, no one disputes this. You are the one brought that baggage to the conversation. Why? I don't know. Maybe you need to do some reflection on that. Second, birth rates ... Irrelevant to my point.
- CarelessExpert 5y ago
  > Nothing I said was racist. Many developing countries have a higher birth rate than the US, no one disputes this. The trope that folks in "developing" countries universally pop out huge numbers of kids sufficient to "more than offset your decision not to have kids" is just that, a trope, based on, generously, a paternalistic western view of the rest of the world that lacks any kind of nuance. For example, China's birthrate is below replacement rate. Is China a "developing" nation in your mind? What about India? Birthrates have also been dropping consistently, averaging around 2.5 children per couple, which is just a bit above replacement rate (2.1), and in many communities birth rates are actually below replacement: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/fertility-rate-below-replacement-level-for-all-but-hindus-muslims/articleshow/62465588.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/fertility-rate-bel... Sub-Saharan African birthrates are on average much higher but they've been plummeting for years and the trend is likely to continue: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?locations=ZG https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?location... All of this reflects a global crash in fertility rates: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53409521 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53409521 > Researchers at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation showed the global fertility rate nearly halved to 2.4 in 2017 - and their study, published in the Lancet, projects it will fall below 1.7 by 2100. Frankly, you might want to reflect on why you hold on to these outdated beliefs about the "developing" world.
  - JohnWhigham 5y ago
    For example, China's birthrate is below replacement rate. Is China a "developing" nation in your mind? That's why I said many, not all. paternalistic western view of the rest of the world that lacks any kind of nuance To reiterate again: there's nothing racist about the fact that many "developing" countries have higher birthrates than the West. Post all the statistics you want about them leveling off: right now in 2021, many are still higher than the West. You are saying it's "paternalistic". You are senselessly bringing in this irrelevant context. If I had to guess, it's because you feel the need to inject politics into conversations so you can argue in bad faith. The term "developing countries" is a commonly used phrase; the UN uses it. Go complain to them if it's so racist.

JohnWhigham 5y ago

Nothing I said was racist. Many developing countries have a higher birth rate than the US, no one disputes this. You are the one brought that baggage to the conversation. Why? I don't know. Maybe you need to do some reflection on that. Second, birth rates ... Irrelevant to my point.

CarelessExpert 5y ago
> Nothing I said was racist. Many developing countries have a higher birth rate than the US, no one disputes this. The trope that folks in "developing" countries universally pop out huge numbers of kids sufficient to "more than offset your decision not to have kids" is just that, a trope, based on, generously, a paternalistic western view of the rest of the world that lacks any kind of nuance. For example, China's birthrate is below replacement rate. Is China a "developing" nation in your mind? What about India? Birthrates have also been dropping consistently, averaging around 2.5 children per couple, which is just a bit above replacement rate (2.1), and in many communities birth rates are actually below replacement: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/fertility-rate-below-replacement-level-for-all-but-hindus-muslims/articleshow/62465588.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/fertility-rate-bel... Sub-Saharan African birthrates are on average much higher but they've been plummeting for years and the trend is likely to continue: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?locations=ZG https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?location... All of this reflects a global crash in fertility rates: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53409521 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-53409521 > Researchers at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation showed the global fertility rate nearly halved to 2.4 in 2017 - and their study, published in the Lancet, projects it will fall below 1.7 by 2100. Frankly, you might want to reflect on why you hold on to these outdated beliefs about the "developing" world.
- JohnWhigham 5y ago
  For example, China's birthrate is below replacement rate. Is China a "developing" nation in your mind? That's why I said many, not all. paternalistic western view of the rest of the world that lacks any kind of nuance To reiterate again: there's nothing racist about the fact that many "developing" countries have higher birthrates than the West. Post all the statistics you want about them leveling off: right now in 2021, many are still higher than the West. You are saying it's "paternalistic". You are senselessly bringing in this irrelevant context. If I had to guess, it's because you feel the need to inject politics into conversations so you can argue in bad faith. The term "developing countries" is a commonly used phrase; the UN uses it. Go complain to them if it's so racist.