er.....China’s population drop is directly caused by centralized policy. For years they have allowed only one child per family, by law. Millions of baby girls have been aborted or abandoned or deposited in orphanages.
Industrialization in contrast has had absolutely nothing to do with drops in birth rates. One might argue that increased living standards have made fewer children necessary since large families were once thought of as old age insurance. The idea was, if you managed to raise enough children to adulthood, at least one of them would take care of you in old age. Most people either have the means to support themselves or stupidly believe the government will take care of them now.
The most important reason for declining birth rates the world over is birth control and abortions however. Unlike you, I don’t see declining birth rates as a good thing. The most valuable resource in the world are human minds. The ideas they create make everyone smarter, richer and healthier, the planet cleaner, and life on earth more pleasant.
I think you have been listening to too much socialist propaganda.
Everything you are arguing is by mere assertion, and happens to be false.
>> er.....China’s population drop is directly caused by centralized policy. For years they have allowed only one child per family, by law. Millions of baby girls have been aborted or abandoned or deposited in orphanages. <<
The policy is enforced in the countryside, because they do not need to enforce it in the cities. You should compare China’s demographics to other nations without any forced 1 child per family rule, such as Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, etc.
In agrarian societies, parents rely on their children to take over the land and provide for them as they get older. In industrial societies, they are simply more mouths to feed. Therefore, with industrialization comes smaller families. In reality, several regimes have had reductions in family sizes far more rapidly than China without any government plans. In Iran, the Ayatollah is beseeching parents in vain to have more children, but the birth rate, once far higher than China’s, is now far lower.
>> I think you have been listening to too much socialist propaganda. <<
You are the one who believes that socialists have been successful in their aims.
>> Unlike you, I don’t see declining birth rates as a good thing. The most valuable resource in the world are human minds. <<
I don’t either; I pointed out Indonesia’s fertility rate (2.4 children per woman) is much better than China’s (1.7). Seven children is not good, (and it is not, actually, natural: Breast-feeding spaces childbirths out more.) Starvation kills minds. But natural family planning policies are sufficient to tame overpopulation.