Posted on 01/21/2007 7:41:49 AM PST by Salvation
That is a good thing.
Okay, my mistake. I understan now.
My personal contribution to ending the programs is never willingly participating in one. It is totally against my belief system to expect the government to provide for my housing and food, child care or education. However, I do intend to get whatever I can back from the social security system that I paid into for so many years ... even though I do not believe that the government should be in the business of providing for my retirement.
I recommend seeing Children of Men, which is playing in theaters now. It is a sci-fi movie about society in 2028 or so, where no children have been born in 18 years do to a problem with women getting pregnant.
Spooky. A world without children is very very creepy.
The title reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode where the nurse/flight attendant says, "Room for one more, honey."
"Here in the U.S. we are expecting a dramatic increase in population."
Will this increase be accompanied by quality or just quantity like it has been for the past thirty years?
Every business needs more customers, Free Republic needs more FReepers, the Tennessee Vols need a steady stream of new players (and new fans), every mover needs more shakers (and the shakers need more movers), every elderly person needs more helpers, and every family needs more laughter. Our nation could use some more joie de vivre.
Even the environmental movement needs more environmentalists.
No, of course it's not just a matter of quantity. Married people who are generous and intelligent deserve a toast, a hurrah and a tip o' the hat for having and raising the next generation, and raising them well. We all need these kids or we will die old, abandoned, lonely, depleted and destitute.
Kids --- well-raised kids ---are needed for the glory of God, for our pride and joy, and to replenish the earth.
In 1950, there were 16 workers paying taxes into the system for every retiree who was taking benefits out of it. Today, there are a little more than three. By the time the baby boomers retire, there will be just two workers who will have to pay all the taxes to support every one retiree.
So basically this is a thinly disguised pro open borders thread.
So much for Christian honesty.
Every sperm is sacred was a joke, not meant to be a doxology.
Nonsense. There is severe overpopulation in some parts of the world. The parts of the world that would like to overrun civilized countries.
"Seems to me that the more populated America becomes, the further into socialism we slide."
CC, I agree. I am not one to live in the past, but it is clear that greater population is a double edged sword.
Despite my liberal friends' direst warnings that our nation is trending toward a dark-age of conservatism, it is intuitively obvious that we have been trending toward socialism since the days of FDR.
I can't say for sure that this is due to greater population or just a natural progression of democratic politics.
But certainly, negative examples of greater population are all around us-- and there is an inevitable and comensurate squeeze on freedom as well.
I believe my tagline says it all.
I think a stable population is a good thing but I wish Americans were producing more children instead of importing people from all over the world who have no interest in becoming American.
Who said anything about open borders? The point is that if Americans will not have more children, then the labor pool will have to come from somewhere, hence more immigration. People refusing to replace themselves is what contributes to the need for illegal immigration, particularly in Europe.
Our health, standard of living, and REAL progress (not the meaning of the word that has been hijacked by socialists, degenerates, and perverts) is not tied to population density (we are nowhere near this bottleneck, which is less optimistic than the author suggests, but not by much) - it is mostly tied to advancing technology and free markets.
Our available resources are not fixed, but are a function of technology. And the rate of technological advancement is a function of the number of people involved in research. The major flaw in fatalistic calculations underpinning the "overpopulation" debate is that technology is assumed fixed. At best, there are a few studies that attempt to correct for this flaw by assuming technological progression at the present rate - but even this is still flawed. The pace of progress continually hastens, and as much as the thought hurts to some some people, we can thank population growth, not just worldwide improved access to and quality of education.
We NEED more people, not fewer. We can grow at a high rate, for at least another few thousand years, while enhancing our standard of living, as long as there is access to education, and unhindered research; most difficult of all, however, is to garner another critical ingredient - less failure-rewarding, success-punishing socialism in all forms. The elimination of competitive forces in markets, in research, in laws, and through entitlements, via arbitrary compulsory redistribution, generally acts to cause long-term harm. Another major lesson from the last several hundred years is that central planning is ruinous - the more expansive the scope, the more disastrous the results.
Anyway, personally, I hope to raise as many children as the author. :)
Is the trend toward socialism related to the rise in the immigrant population, or is it a natural political evolution? Would more births to native born Americans stifle this trend?
As a minimum, demographic should concern you. European culture, violence in India, Russia, the Phillipines and elsewhere are all threats from shifting demographics.
And if you're still a hardcore protectionist, consider this:
American Muslims have children at a high rate.
Non-Muslims American are barely at the replacement rate.
Your great-grandchildren will be under Sharia law.
"When my great grandparents arrived they came with the intent of fitting in and only brought very minor cultural baggage with them."
As did mine.
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