Stop Arguing About the Birthrate
The battle of the Birthrates is pointless
Elon Musk would like you to have a lot of children. He has gone on record many times to say that having kids isn’t just a fulfilling life choice but a civilizational imperative: “If people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble. Mark my words.”
And the centibillionaire isn’t all talk in this regard. He has at least 12 kids with several different women. He has emerged as one of the most prominent representatives of a growing “pronatalist” movement. The pronatalists, who also count Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance as a member of their camp, believe that declining birthrates in wealthy countries like the United States are a) a big problem and b) one that can be overcome with a combination of government policy and changing social norms.
Some of the pronatalists are motivated by economic worries — they fear that it will be impossible for a shrinking population of working-age adults to support a growing cohort of retired people. Countries with declining populations will not be as productive; their economies may cease to grow, at least on an aggregate basis. Some are motivated by religion, believing that God commands us to have children; others are animated by effective altruist ideas that the future of humanity requires a lot of kids. Some have a more…
