2nd day this week our kid has to stay home from day care due to trivial health issues. 2 parents who work full time, no family around. Modern life is hard...
Conversation
We haven't made the transition from traditional society with lots of family around to mobilistic 'modern' society which has proper support for parents. We live in a shitty in-between space. People worry about birth rates plummeting. Maybe start with better family support policies
3
8
Replying to
It's decreasing in Norway, too.
I don't think just a few policy changes will stand up to the crushing pressure of cultural capitalism.
1
1
Replying to
Yeah, it's a bunch of things. But making it less impossible for people to have kids is a good start. Honestly though, I see declining birth rates in industrialized wealthy countries as an argument for boosting immigration rates. It's not like the earth doesn't have enough people
1
1
Replying to
But muh ethnostate.
It's funny. I don't think lower fertility is much of a problem. But the presumed causes are major problems, or symptoms thereof.
1
1
Replying to
Agreed. But in the short/medium term, it's only a problem demographically if you are an ethnostater...
1
Replying to
Not so sure that's true. Sweden got a pretty massive upsurge in ethnostatist & other fascists after the recent waves of immigration.
Historically, mass migrations tend to cause a lot of upheaval, right?
Don't think continued climate change will improve on any of that.
Replying to
Quote Tweet
I agree, but in an increasingly interconnected world with interconnected problems, rejecting diversity is the worst option. We have no choice but to embrace diversity AND, as you say, work to engage with and actively understand each other. twitter.com/ianbremmer/sta…
1
Of course, a lot of the backlash has to do with declining life prospects for working class native populations due to globalization, automation, etc., (hence the need for a scapegoat). That is a whole other conversation though...
Immigration is pretty clearly a boon in most cases, but there is something about the manner and intensity that can lead to trouble.
I'm concerned, given Syria only had about 23 million inhabitants before the war, and that alone almost broke the EU (it may yet).
1
1
Replying to
yeah, I'm definitely not for unlimited immigration. But boosting rates in most countries, coupled with non-zero sum integration strategies