Not my idea; but I saw it as a graffito on the back of a bus seat on the upper deck, where the schoolchildren gravitate - more than 20 years ago.
Now the FT comments on how longevity (plus the old's passion for killing the unborn and preventing conception) is going to ruin us. We think the young are selfish, and don't dare glance at their elders, who imagine they can quit their jobs in the prime of life and live like kings on the backs of their progeny and remoter descendants - or such few of them as the old permit to survive.
As Mark Steyn puts it:
“Over the next decade,” Frau Merkel pointed out, “we will undergo a massive demographic change, and, therefore, borrowing is a greater burden for the future than in a country with a much more continuously growing population, as in the United States of America.”
Translation: America can rack up multi-trillion-dollar deficits and stick it to its kids and grandkids. But in Europe there are no kids and grandkids to stick it to—just upside- down family trees: in Germany, Spain and Italy, four grandparents have two children have one grandchild. The Financial Times noted last week that the demographic death spiral is a far greater threat to fiscal solvency than the present economic downturn. And yet, despite Germany, Japan and Russia already being in net population decline, the G20 had not a word to say about it.
That bill's going to come in, and Herod himself can't prevent it. In fact, he caused it.
12 comments:
".. Herod himself can't prevent it. In fact, he caused it."
Well, I don't know if you are thinking along the lines I have been for some time, but .. if it hadn't been for the '67 abortion act in the UK there is a good chance that the population today might be some 5million higher, probably more since that is just the number of abortions since '67. If those had lived and many would have grown up and had their own children by now.
Lodged in the back of my mind was a scene from a BBC Question time a year or so ago. The QT audience is notoriously lefty. The topic was pensions and this lefty woman piped up .." if we stop immigration, who is going to pay our pensions?"
I suspect the last think on the mind of an immigrant is the thought of supporting a geriatric native.
I personally will blow my brains out before I get into a 'care' home.
Elephant in the room, ain't it?
That bill's going to come in, and Herod himself can't prevent it. In fact, he caused it.Thank you for pointing this out so clearly. Ethics embraces all of life, as C.S. Lewis repeatedly insisted. ('You have never met an 'ordinary person'...')
Pull out all of the emotional reactions, all the religious dogma, and consider coldly the ethical implications of these numbers. These numbers give fresh meaning to the term 'sanctity of life', do they not?
I am a parent of young adults, brilliant young people excelling in their schooling, preparing for productive lives. Their dear mother and I happily poured our lives and fortunes into them, and look forward to the day when they have the same privilege of parenthood.
What sort of world have we (speaking collectively) left them? Their generation is 'short' several million souls, thanks to the abortions(most for convenience) performed since the early 1970's. Do our children not, on some level, feel that absence? If not now, they will later.
We have created an enormous moral hazard for them, by burdening them with our debts.
If I remember my Old Testament, there is a point where the Almighty reminds the tribe to whom he has imparted the Law that he visits the consequences of one generation's sins on generations yet unborn('to the third and fourth generations').
If we can't act with wisdom and restraint for its own sake(and ours), perhaps we can do it for our grandchildren?
Boomer, next time you are tempted to scold a parent for bringing a child to a concert or restaurant, 'invading your space', maybe a smile and compliments to that parent for caring enough to parent is in order?
OldSouth
MainStreetMattersMore.blogspot.com
Two small points:
UK pop is forecast to rise significantly.
Over time, a smaller population ain't all bad - look at Sweden: larger than the UK but with a pop the size of London.
So stop worrying!
Abortion is a good thing as it prevents children being born to parents who'll be rubbish.
Nope the problem is the underlying idea of retirement, especially a state mandated retirement age.
With an increased average productive life, and more automation, there is no reason why a slightly decreased population isn't better than the alternative. It's only our strong biological drive that tells us that 'more is better'.
Bo - look at ratio of productive land to pop. And the rise in population may be unequally distributed among classes and ethnic groups, which in turn could create tensions for generations to come.
ACO: you may be assuming that abortion is concentrated on the underclass. Not so, from what I see. New boyfriend, new kid.
Padders: you yourself have pointed out that there is no stable harmony in nature ("sweaty wrestlers", wasn't it?); when there is a population "correction", for whatever reason, those who bred more and spread their progeny geographically may be more successful in the gene-race.
Eat the Poor. They tend to have a nice bit of fat on them.
Not healthy fat, though, DM. Go free-range: eat a hippy.
Hippies are buggers to clean, and the overly-fit rich are too tough to cook.
As for my previous comments on evolution, there is the mitigating factor of technology. Were that not the case, Africa and the Middle East would have over-run Europe a generation ago.
@Paddington: Whereas now, the Middle East will over-run Europe in the next fifty years or so. And their advantage is two-fold: a ferocious, intolerant, and brutal religion - and high birth-rate.
Don't worry about the UK being depopulated - just worry about who the population will be.
One thing's for sure - such grand-daughters and great-grand-daughters as the indigenous people manage to produce, will not be going out of their houses without their brothers to chaperone them.
I suspect the last think on the mind of an immigrant is the thought of supporting a geriatric native. They will cancel our pensions in an instant using the very democracy we created. That's if we are lucky.
Post a Comment