News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Japan’s toddler superstar: the baby bringing hope to a ghost village.

Re:Japan’s toddler superstar: the baby bringing hope to a gh... by zizee on Saturday September 30, 2023 @09:37PM (#37721730)
It's interesting to see what is happening in Japan as a crystal ball for all countries. Richer countries can usually offset population declines by "stealing" from less rich countries through immigration. Japan is not doing this, and so is shrinking. Eventually all countries will be shrinking (unless trends fail to hold). What does it mean for humanity's future? Can Japan find a new, sustainable model for themselves? Either way, valuable lessons will be learnt from their efforts.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Japan’s toddler superstar: the baby bringing hope to a gh... by 4wsn on Sunday October 01, 2023 @02:01AM (#37723122)
It's hardly a given all countries will be shrinking, just ones that follow a certain value system.

As for a sustainable model, yeah. Have kids. Like normal living organisms do, have always done, and will always do. If a population as a whole is unable to sustain itself through this incredibly basic function then their values have led them to an evolutionary dead end.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Japan’s toddler superstar: the baby bringing hope to a gh... by zizee on Tuesday October 03, 2023 @07:38AM (#37750492)
Replacement rate is generally 2.3-2.4

Of 193 sovereign states, about 74 have a fertility rate greater than replacement rate.

It's widely accepted that fertility rates reduce as a country becomes richer. I believe many countries that currently have higher fertility rates, have lower rates compared to their historical highs.

I think things will level out eventually and it's probably a good thing that global populations are peaking. But countries do need to find new economic models that don't rely on continual population growth to papar over the unsustainable nature of our current economic systems.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_fertility_rate

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_f...

[ Parent | on HN ]