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posted by
mrpg
on Friday November 16 2018, @02:15AM
from the not-so-many-men-are-having-children-either dept.
from the not-so-many-men-are-having-children-either dept.
'Remarkable' decline in fertility rates
There has been a remarkable global decline in the number of children women are having, say researchers.
Their report found fertility rate falls meant nearly half of countries were now facing a "baby bust" - meaning there are insufficient children to maintain their population size.
The researchers said the findings were a "huge surprise".
And there would be profound consequences for societies with "more grandparents than grandchildren".
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'Remarkable' Decline in Fertility Rates
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sillema sillema nika su
(Score: 5, Interesting) by bradley13 on Friday November 16 2018, @08:05AM (9 children)
Reducing global population would be all to the good. However, I worry about civilization. It is precisely the most civilized populations that are shrinking. Meanwhile, the populations which have never reached first-world status are still growing.
This ties into all of the environmental issues as well. First-world countries are under massive pressure to reduce their environmental impact, when in reality they already have. For example, almost all of the plastic entering the oceans comes from Asia and Africa. The same for CO2 emissions. The problem is overpopulation in the rest of the world.
Dunno what the solution is, but it is worrisome...
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @08:35AM (5 children)
Found the white guy! Most likely "member in suspension" of the Traditionalist Workers Party [thedailybeast.com]. They certainly believe in procreation, and sex, and white supremacy. A bit lacking on the "civilization" part, though. But that is to be expected, it is just a dog-whistle code-word for "white", anyway.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @02:17PM
So are you denying the facts or the implications?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Friday November 16 2018, @06:50PM (2 children)
It seems there's a similar penchant at work when discussing gender equality and roles and when discussing racial equality and roles. To wit, that it's all a zero-sum game. In order for women to have greater opportunities, it is necessary to punish and belittle men. In order for non-whites to have greater opportunities, it is necessary to punish and belittle whites.
It also obtains in other areas like sexual orientation, such that in order for homosexuals to have greater opportunities it is necessary to punish and belittle heterosexuals.
I don't think that's true, myself. I don't think most people who want greater opportunities actually want to punish or belittle anyone; they just want what they think everyone else has. In the vanguard of those equality movements are, however, elements who do want to punish and belittle and attack, and those are the ones reactionaries cite. Then the radicals cite the reactionaries and round and round it goes.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Saturday November 17 2018, @12:39AM (1 child)
THANK YOU! I've been saying for years now that the zero-sum narrative is being pushed by 1) frightened, ignorant reactionaries and 2) manipulative sociopathic elites, both of whom have personal reasons to want it to be the case.
This is utterly mystifying to people like me. The quintessential example was listening to a bunch of Group 1 freaking out around the SCOTUS decision on marriage equality about how "gays getting married harms their marriages." Uh...the only way me being able to get married now would harm your marriage, Mr. Reactionary, is if your wife was a cheater and at least somewhat bisexual. All you'd expect to see happen would be more marriages total because more people are allowed to marry.
Unfortunately, I see no solution for zero-sum thinking. It's an especially pernicious, sticky memeplex, because it has both an extremely strong emotional impact *and* agrees with both intuition and many real-world scenarios. I suppose the thing to do is raise peoples' consciousnesses and make them aware of it. Like, explicitly say to them "think about the motivations of the person telling you this. Is it *really* a zero-sum game? Or is that what they want you to think? And if it isn't, what are the implications? Are they as scary as the ones if it is?"
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 17 2018, @04:52AM
Sure, so far as it goes: the situation isn't inherently zero-sum.
However, that doesn't mean that there aren't groups of bucket crabs desperately trying to pull themselves up by pulling others down. We see it all the time in the people demanding unequal rights. The family court thing might be the most visible, but the various forms of "affirmative action" do pretty much the same thing, as do differential judgement processes like a lot of the Title IX stuff in the USA. Or consider the baker case on Colorado, which ended up with such naked bigotry on the part of the state authorities that SCOTUS decided, by a large majority, that the state needed to not be biased for their judgements to apply, as opposed to being unconstitutional.
It's quite possible for bucket crabs to proliferate even when it's not a zero-sum situation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @06:51PM
If only dogs hear dog whistles, why is it that you're the only one hearing it?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @09:51AM
1.) Let them continue breeding faster than the food supply unabated.
2.) Wait for nature to assert itself in full force.
3.) ?????
4.) Profit!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @12:38PM (1 child)
Seems like wanking dulled your mind, if you can't see the solution.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 20 2018, @09:14PM
genocide, duh
firebomb asia+africa