Re:Why are Europeans so hesitant to have children, and what ...
by emmett on Sunday June 29, 2008 @01:19PM
(#231276)
1. Natural selection has nothing to do the question. This is an issue of culture, not of genetics. You could easily have a situation where we globally had declining birthrate. The interesting question is - why are birth rates for these populations falling? Is it purely a matter of wealth?
2. If you reduce Americans to the wealthiest subset, you'd see the same trend. Historically, if you reduced Americans to their non-Irish subset, you'd see the same thing, because the Irish were the poor immigrant group of the time.
3. Europe isn't a thing. Very few people even think of themselves as Europeans. Well, so far anyway. I hold out hope the EU will gain currency. What's important is still national identity, and European countries have survived waves of immigration before.
4. Agreed. This isn't a crisis until population levels dip quite a bit more.
5. Mormons, albanian muslims, and ultra-orthodox jews haven't reversed any trend. Their birthrates are (roughly) constant. It's everyone else whose birthrate declined.
2. If you reduce Americans to the wealthiest subset, you'd see the same trend. Historically, if you reduced Americans to their non-Irish subset, you'd see the same thing, because the Irish were the poor immigrant group of the time.
3. Europe isn't a thing. Very few people even think of themselves as Europeans. Well, so far anyway. I hold out hope the EU will gain currency. What's important is still national identity, and European countries have survived waves of immigration before.
4. Agreed. This isn't a crisis until population levels dip quite a bit more.
5. Mormons, albanian muslims, and ultra-orthodox jews haven't reversed any trend. Their birthrates are (roughly) constant. It's everyone else whose birthrate declined.