depopulation woes
Should we be worried about declining birth rates in most countries? Most people think so, and there are obvious challenges coming as result.
Some worry that while birthrates in mostly "white" nations are all declining, the countries that still have high birthrates tend to have brown and black skinned people. This forms the crux of the great replacement theory narrative that motivates so much of the angst based in racism.
There is significant overlap between this group and the group who fret about the low rates of birth in all Christian nations in contrast to high fertility rates in Muslim countries worldwide. This is not limited to predominantly Christian nations, but those examples are the most familiar. India, for example, has a minority Muslim population that is growing at a far faster rate than the majority Hindu population.
Not all the concerns are based on our biases however, there are economic hand-wringers as well. In the 20th century the world population exploded from over 1 billion in 1900 to more than 6 billion by 2000. The world economy was truly reshaped in the 20th century by this anomoly.
Now we find ourselves in a situation where declining birth rates are the norm in almost every country. Birth rates above replacement levels (about 2.1 children per female per lifetime) happen mainly in sub-saharan Africa, and the data suggests that they too will see lowering fertility rates in future. Is this a death sentence for our species?
Now is the time when we use our tecnological prowess, and our infinite capacity to adopt and innovate, to plan for a world with far fewer people. This is good news. It means our quality of life can continue to improve even as our lifestyles require more resources per capita. Let us bring robotics and AI together to alleviate some of the challenges of our aging, shrinking populations.
I believe that the depopulation challenges we face are not economic but are political. If there are fewer of us, can we muster the courage to use our resources for the benefit of all?