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Conventional wisdom is that declining birth rates are correlated with industrialization, urbanization and contraception. This has been a pattern for a while, ac

Conventional wisdom is that declining birth rates are correlated with industrialization, urbanization and contraception. This has been a pattern for a while, across many populations [0]. Children in a rural agricultural society are free labor, and a retirement plan. Children in a urban industrialized economy are a costly burden, particularly when it is illegal to put them to work. I'm not sure that your comment about cannabis and a thousand cuts is significant compared to this other data. Germany's birth rate went from 5.4 in 1875 to 1.3 in 1995 [1], as they industrialized and urbanized. It went up a little bit to the 1.5 you mentioned after the end of the cold wa, and reunification. Economic boom. Nothing to do with drug laws. > The West seems to be dying by a thousand cuts. This is yet another cut. I don't understand. Is this some kind of moral judgement? Do you think cannabis laws somehow affect people's decision to have children more than economic issues? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_transition#Summary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_transition#Summary [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1033102/fertility-rate-germany-1800-2020/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1033102/fertility-rate-g...

bill_joy_fanboy 3y ago
If you care about your population surviving, you know that a birth rate below 2 is a serious problem that must be solved. Allowing your populace to sedate itself with weed/booze/porn/etc. is the opposite of solving this problem.
- mikem170 3y ago
  I agree with what you said about the birth rate. That's a legitimate concern. A society that can't sustain itself over time is not a successful society. But maybe weed/booze/porn/etc are symptoms of a problem, and not root causes. Fighting the symptoms might not help the problem. For example, compared to several generations ago modern life is alienating in many ways. We have many new conveniences, but also many new things to stress about. The typical adult today, especially those of child bearing age, may have moved for work, doesn't spend much time with their neighbors, is consuming internet and mass media all day, might not have a best friend, lives paycheck to paycheck, might have a lot of student loan debt, kids are expensive, houses and cars and food are expensive, divorce is expensive, the American Dream ain't what it used to be, etc. Drugs are an escape for many people, something to ease their suffering, boredom, or stress. Not the cause. If the economic and social milieu that is modern life are the problem no amount of prudence when it comes to marijuana will fix the birth rate.
  - mikem170 3y ago
    I forgot dual income families. That's huge. There's a lot of people in that situation. If they have the money for kids, they don't have the time.

bill_joy_fanboy 3y ago

If you care about your population surviving, you know that a birth rate below 2 is a serious problem that must be solved. Allowing your populace to sedate itself with weed/booze/porn/etc. is the opposite of solving this problem.

mikem170 3y ago
I agree with what you said about the birth rate. That's a legitimate concern. A society that can't sustain itself over time is not a successful society. But maybe weed/booze/porn/etc are symptoms of a problem, and not root causes. Fighting the symptoms might not help the problem. For example, compared to several generations ago modern life is alienating in many ways. We have many new conveniences, but also many new things to stress about. The typical adult today, especially those of child bearing age, may have moved for work, doesn't spend much time with their neighbors, is consuming internet and mass media all day, might not have a best friend, lives paycheck to paycheck, might have a lot of student loan debt, kids are expensive, houses and cars and food are expensive, divorce is expensive, the American Dream ain't what it used to be, etc. Drugs are an escape for many people, something to ease their suffering, boredom, or stress. Not the cause. If the economic and social milieu that is modern life are the problem no amount of prudence when it comes to marijuana will fix the birth rate.
- mikem170 3y ago
  I forgot dual income families. That's huge. There's a lot of people in that situation. If they have the money for kids, they don't have the time.