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No, the Black Death is not a good analogy, because it killed all ages indiscriminately. Our "plague" "kills" the young and productive - by their never being bo
by tuatoru 1y ago
No, the Black Death is not a good analogy, because it killed all ages indiscriminately.
Our "plague" "kills" the young and productive - by their never being born in the first place. We are headed for something we have never seen, ever: a society dominated by old people in pure numbers terms.
The worry is that it is a design for stagnation and decay rather than greater strength. (There won't be money or people to maintain infrastructure because the elders will demand healthcare.)
I don't know what will happen and nor does anyone else really.
- seanmcdirmid 1y agoIt killed all but made people more valuable and, more importantly, valued in general. If kids become more rare, we will probably start treating and nurturing them better. We complain about childcare costs now but if kids are few enough society might just happily take up the bill.
- tuatoru 1y agoIf only it were that easy. Austria and Switzerland have nerly identical birth rates, but in one, childcare is almost free and in the other, it is very expensive. South Korea and Hungary (among many others) have tried paying people to have children, without success. It pulls a few births forward in time, but then the birth rate declines again. There is something more fundamental going on.