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A comment on World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says. Parent comment

Re:World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says by irrational on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @02:20AM (#44233243)
That there will be nobody to care for the great mass of old people, nobody to work jobs to make 401ks worth anything, nobody to prop up social security, nobody to buy old people’s houses so they can use that money to pay for nursing homes So… all the old people will suddenly find they can’t retire and are forced to work till death. They will consider it a crisis. The current retirees are probably the final retirees in our lifetime.
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Re:World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says by AlecSchueler on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @04:00AM (#44233933)
But wasn't the idea that technology increased our productivity so that with few people we could do the work of many?
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Re:World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says by subscribed on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @08:50AM (#44236191)
Almost all the productivity gain got reaped by the 0.1%
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Re:World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says by morepedantic on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @02:37AM (#44233373)
If the burden is too high, there's a risk that future generations will simply decline to care for the elderly who contributed to the problem (childlessness), but then expect the children to care for them in retirement.
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Re:World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says by alexey-salmin on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @02:54AM (#44233503)
That's almost a "positive" scenario in my view, I would prefer people who are left to care about themselves and their kids rather than the elderly who screwed them up.

The alternative is, more and more resources will be allocated towards the elderly and by consequence less towards kids, making the problem worse with every generation. Not clear though how to break out of this spiral by democratic means if elderly are the majority.

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Re:World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says by irrational on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @09:08PM (#44243239)
Except, the elderly aren’t the majority. There are just as many Millenials as Boomers. It’s a matter of getting Gen x, millenials, Gen z and Gen alpha to actually vote.
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Re:World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says by morepedantic on Wednesday June 11, 2025 @01:03AM (#44244354)
Democracy is little more than simulated warfare. Rather than harsh campaigns and brutal battles over every issue, society has learned it's cheaper to predict the outcome and avoid the bother.

But if the majority voting bloc is geriatric, then that does rather change the fundamentals.

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Re:World fertility rates in 'unprecedented decline', UN says by cosmicgadget on Tuesday June 10, 2025 @10:40AM (#44237372)
Honestly self-inflicted economic problems seem mild compared to overpopulation and overconsumption. I am sure there is a happy steady state somewhere but I don't think we have the collective will to find it.
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