The world is grappling with a critical challenge that isn’t getting much notice: the decline in birth rates that could lead to major changes in the world — changes thinkers like Elon Musk have projected to be devastating. Many experts have been warning for years that falling birth rates could cause massive societal issues.
First-world nations are seeing their populations decrease as birth rates decrease and larger segments of older generations become deceased.
Immigration is what’s keeping the population in these nations from dropping drastically, but this has and will lead to its own set of destructive problems.
Former New York Times writer Alex Berenson recently talked about how important the population issue is, pointing out that the future is at greater risk as birth rates continue to decline.
#Gravitas | The real scare this halloween seems to be declining birth
rates globally. Reports say, it could grind to a halt by 2050. Meanwhile, Xi Jinping is telling women to cultivate a 'child-bearing culture' to combat this trend.
Here's what @priyankash25 has to say pic.twitter.com/JgL1Gs2JSp— WION (@WIONews) November 1, 2023
Daily Wire’s Dr. Jordan Peterson had a talk with feminist Camille Paglia, where she highlighted the cultural impacts on birth rates. She stated that during the 1960s and 1970s, it became almost wrong to think raising children was more important than having a career.
But Brad Wilcox from the University of Virginia says being married and having children is the best way to be happy. Wilcox stresses the importance of family for a person’s quality of life, which if true, points to the wide-ranging and significant impact that declining birthrates have not just on society, but on each individual.
The culture that has permeated society has pushed the idea that being free from family duties and responsibilities are the way to freedom and happiness. However, experts like Wilcox suggest that this idea being sold is destructive and false.
Further adding to the issue are post-pandemic birth rates, which, though lockdowns were expected to lead to a baby boom, one result of the pandemic was that it actually led to a drop in birth rates that has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Interestingly, those areas with fewer COVID restrictions, particularly social distancing guidelines, tended to have more babies born in them during this time than those areas with stricter COVID restrictions.
The declining birth rate is not just a threat to the U.S., but it is projected to also impact Europe and parts of Asia. If this issue is not addressed quickly, our way of life in the future could be drastically different than it is today.
