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> they must shudder at the thought that in the average week the country loses another 2,000 through population decline Anecdotally, it seems a surprising numbe

by yobbo 5y ago

> they must shudder at the thought that in the average week the country loses another 2,000 through population decline Anecdotally, it seems a surprising number of these young men are already fathers (of children they could barely support). Furthermore, there is a male surplus built into birth rates, and the number of men is not the limiting factor in population growth. It's quite obvious the reason is economic. Establishing healthy families is really difficult. > that there is almost no civil war in countries where 55 per cent or more of the population is aged over thirty.’ Correlation, not causation.

rbanffy 5y ago
The articles hint at some strong factors for causation.
mulmen 5y ago
> ‘While it cannot be said that youthfulness “causes” war,’ he writes, ‘or that maturity “causes” peace, a society’s age structure creates background conditions against which other things either do or don’t spark conflict.’ Literally the next sentence.
- yobbo 5y ago
  In case someone is still wondering about this. A plausible correlation would be; a spike in population growth would cause both an excess of young men, and a shortage of resources (which is a cause for war).
- yobbo 5y ago
  That sentence does nothing to explain causation.
sudo_rm 5y ago
> ‘While it cannot be said that youthfulness “causes” war,’ he writes, ‘or that maturity “causes” peace...