A US Birthrate of 1.7 Undesirable and Unsustainable

I think first off unsustainability is a minor concern. At a birth rate of 1.7 we'll still have more humans in 2150 on the globe than we had in 1980, so that doesn't sound so alarming.

More importantly I think the author points to a real problem but finds the wrong solution. It's indeed true that family is a form of social support, but it's not the only one. The author laments the breakdown of the nuclear family but it is the nuclear family itself that was probably one of the worst inventions we ever made.

Instead of trying to rebuild the socially impoverished nuclear family, the low birthrate can be used to rebuild community. Socialisation not out of any tribal obligation, but voluntarily. Creating institutions in which people cooperate and live together rather than small suburban homes full of lonely grandparents.

Unsustainable for who? Baby boomers will be just fine as they retire in luxury off the productivity of their children. What kind of policy would help? How about anything that rewards labor (what potential parent aged people have) instead of a stream of constant rewards and protections for asset bearers.

Even in the last month, $1200 for laborers, a magnitude greater for investors who have seen an almost full recovery of their stock prices. Now Powell is talking about the mortgage market, is he going to intervene to make sure housing values don’t decline?

Need link to original Wall Street Journal Article.

Ecofascism alarm going off