31st May 2008, 6:50 AM
This is true of many European countries, but not all of them. It's also true of Japan, but China's population continues to rise dramatically.
One thing to distinguish is there's a difference between population decline, and population GROWTH decline. Population growth rates can shrink and still result in a rising overall population.
I think concerns that reducing reproduction is a sure path to extinction are pretty silly. No one's saying it should be reduced to zero, and realistically I doubt that's even attainable.
As for the US...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population
It would appear we aren't in the same situation as Europe. This is anecdotal, but just looking around me "not having kids" is not a high priority of my peers... neither is going to college... Part of this may put the lie to "abstenence only" sex education. The main problem is in interviews with people taught that saying that "if they did have sex, they probably wouldn't bother with protection because they're already messing up as it is".
(As an aside, that's a disgusting line of thought. You're already "doing something wrong" so you might as well do MORE things wrong? Seriously, you mean to say that if you started torturing someone, you've already "messed up" so CONTINUING to torture them is now perfectly fine as you are already "in the wrong"? Well gee maybe the moral quesion isn't ABOUT you and your guilt! Maybe it's about the person in pain! Maybe even if you already screwed up the only moral course of action is to reduce the harm as much as you can from there! Seriously, how the heck do people get a mindset like that? This by the way should not be taken as saying that defying abstenence is wrong or anything so much as that this mindset is pretty evil.)
Anyway, that's a rather simple answer to the issue but it stands to wonder where the source of America (and Canada's) population growth comes from when we're in the same boat as many European nations. Also of note is that while overall Europe has lowered population, there are small pockets where it's still growing, such as Italy. This also may be true in the US, where overall there's growth but there may well be many pockets where it's dropping (just not enough).
Immigrants are one explanation, that's a good point ABF, but I'd like to see some good data to back up the idea that it's just due to immigration that our population is growing and not due to reproduction.
GR, I think I have to point out that once again, my idea would not, and I would never even want it, to be FORCED on a population. Rather I just want the option to exist and for people to be made aware there would be nothing immoral about such a choice. The fundamental thing is simply that someone would be opting into being fertile, not opting out, and that alone would shift a lot of issues around.
One thing to distinguish is there's a difference between population decline, and population GROWTH decline. Population growth rates can shrink and still result in a rising overall population.
I think concerns that reducing reproduction is a sure path to extinction are pretty silly. No one's saying it should be reduced to zero, and realistically I doubt that's even attainable.
As for the US...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population
It would appear we aren't in the same situation as Europe. This is anecdotal, but just looking around me "not having kids" is not a high priority of my peers... neither is going to college... Part of this may put the lie to "abstenence only" sex education. The main problem is in interviews with people taught that saying that "if they did have sex, they probably wouldn't bother with protection because they're already messing up as it is".
(As an aside, that's a disgusting line of thought. You're already "doing something wrong" so you might as well do MORE things wrong? Seriously, you mean to say that if you started torturing someone, you've already "messed up" so CONTINUING to torture them is now perfectly fine as you are already "in the wrong"? Well gee maybe the moral quesion isn't ABOUT you and your guilt! Maybe it's about the person in pain! Maybe even if you already screwed up the only moral course of action is to reduce the harm as much as you can from there! Seriously, how the heck do people get a mindset like that? This by the way should not be taken as saying that defying abstenence is wrong or anything so much as that this mindset is pretty evil.)
Anyway, that's a rather simple answer to the issue but it stands to wonder where the source of America (and Canada's) population growth comes from when we're in the same boat as many European nations. Also of note is that while overall Europe has lowered population, there are small pockets where it's still growing, such as Italy. This also may be true in the US, where overall there's growth but there may well be many pockets where it's dropping (just not enough).
Immigrants are one explanation, that's a good point ABF, but I'd like to see some good data to back up the idea that it's just due to immigration that our population is growing and not due to reproduction.
GR, I think I have to point out that once again, my idea would not, and I would never even want it, to be FORCED on a population. Rather I just want the option to exist and for people to be made aware there would be nothing immoral about such a choice. The fundamental thing is simply that someone would be opting into being fertile, not opting out, and that alone would shift a lot of issues around.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)