Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

The2ndWheel

(7,947 posts)
12. Which goes against every institution we've built
Wed Dec 3, 2014, 03:36 PM
Dec 2014

Everything that we do is geared toward more people doing more things. More customers, more tax payers. It even takes more education to lower fertility rates.

It's sort of like people who save money instead of spending it. That can work great for the people who save their money while others spend it. When more and more people start not spending their money, that doesn't do much to help the economy, and savers get punished.

Higher educated, wealthier people can have fewer kids. Works great, as long as there are people having more kids out there. If more and more people start having fewer kids, how does society continue to function?

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Cheerful. Jackpine Radical Nov 2014 #1
Good article pscot Nov 2014 #2
Ban fossil fuels, ban factory farm meats... hunter Nov 2014 #3
Add the banning of monocrop industrial agriculture. GliderGuider Nov 2014 #4
carbon tax won't work? GreenGreenLimaBean Nov 2014 #5
Big Fusion Reactor PeterClark Dec 2014 #6
No one forgot about it - you may want to read the article OKIsItJustMe Dec 2014 #7
Co2 scrubbers, I wondered about that nearly 10 yrs ago FogerRox Dec 2014 #8
A number of schemes have been suggested, including GMO trees OKIsItJustMe Dec 2014 #10
I wonder if fusion-powered CO2 scrubbers would help with this problem: GliderGuider Dec 2014 #9
“How do windmills, solar panels and even fusion power change this trajectory?” OKIsItJustMe Dec 2014 #11
Which goes against every institution we've built The2ndWheel Dec 2014 #12
“If more and more people start having fewer kids, how does society continue to function?” OKIsItJustMe Dec 2014 #14
Something is going on The2ndWheel Dec 2014 #17
Workforce growth is about 1.1% in the US FogerRox Dec 2014 #28
Education alone works in limited cases, like Sub-Saharan Africa. GliderGuider Dec 2014 #13
Isn’t wealth also linked to education? OKIsItJustMe Dec 2014 #15
Wealth requires more than education GliderGuider Dec 2014 #16
Surely they are linked though OKIsItJustMe Dec 2014 #18
The UN is now projecting a world population of 11 billion by 2100 GliderGuider Dec 2014 #19
“Prediction is Difficult, Especially the Future” - Niels Bohr OKIsItJustMe Dec 2014 #20
That's true. OTOH, what we are seeing could be just a natural slowdown in reproduction GliderGuider Dec 2014 #21
Years ago, I worked briefly with a mouse plague researcher OKIsItJustMe Dec 2014 #22
Was that Calhoun, or someone else? GliderGuider Dec 2014 #23
(It was someone else) OKIsItJustMe Dec 2014 #24
On paper it would work, as OK said, FogerRox Dec 2014 #27
The Direct Drivers of Mass Extinction: GliderGuider Dec 2014 #29
Yup. FogerRox Dec 2014 #31
Fusion has always been 20 years away. Odin2005 Dec 2014 #25
Too bad climate change isn't... nt GliderGuider Dec 2014 #26
going to renewables is of course a sustainable way to go vs fossil fuels use. But that still leaves Bill USA Dec 2014 #30
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Environment & Energy»What It Would Really Take...»Reply #12