I had an interesting discussion with my nephew about this post. He angers me with the way he talks about stuff, but I consider it an exercise in mental fortitude. Allow me to share his absolutely crazy and unreasonable thoughts on this:
"Nobody really wants more people except certain religious sects, and that is only because it allows them to use sexuality to control people. Most modern capitalists would favor automation precisely because it takes unreliable people out of the capitalistic equation and makes conversion of real property to wealth and power easier. The only reason why we're hearing about fertility and birth rate in the last few years is because certain religious organizations are scared they're going to end up losing their tax-free status and leveraging current social crises to make sure they stay relevant by any means necessary. I'm betting they have armies of incels ensnared in their fundamentalist ideologies getting tax-free money to shitpost on the various social networks."
I cut him off right there. I think he was drinking, and I haven't talked to him since. I'm considering having him committed because he acts very strange. He may have a drug problem.
Anyway I disagree with his premise because COVID-19 did really expose weaknesses in the supply chain and global world order and showed that depending completely on foreign entities can make you non-resilient in the face of disaster. So we do need strong families and all that stuff that's being talked about, it's a real actual need. And I do think making life better for people is the way to go, but we need to fix whatever decided that landlords should be getting most of the non-rich people's money first.
Your over-reaction sounds far more reminiscent of mental illness or drug abuse than any of his actual opinions, which are fairly pedestrian in 2024 (for the record I don't agree with them).
No one is going to commit him over that grandpa, seriously.
The problem goes the other way - developed nations, the ones where you have people living comfortably enough to talk stuff like RiverCrochet's nephew, are all living below replacement rate. As things currently are, our countries are already extinct, they just don't know it yet.
The irony. For the past 50+ years, we were so obsessed with the threat of overpopulation that we didn't think of the opposite; didn't even realize that people who care about such things will all have bred themselves out of existence way before Earth gets too crowded.
There just may not be as much of a need for as many humans in the future as robots are built instead.
So maybe instead of 8 billion humans, we will have 1 billion humans and 99 billion robots. Then the humans can all be the 1%. Or maybe there won’t be any humans, and the robots can decide how many robots there should be.
> There just may not be as much of a need for as many humans in the future as robots are built instead.
Maybe, but we may never get there if the population that can build robots becomes too small to impact the direction of the economy.
> So maybe instead of 8 billion humans, we will have 1 billion humans and 99 billion robots
It's fun until you ask yourself, how will you allocate voting rights?
That is, again, if we can even get there, because again, differences in birth rates across countries and cultures, plus voting rights, means a shift in mindsets and priorities.
Also old people. They need younger people to support them, like grow their food, fix their houses, etc. But given that I plan on growing old, as I hope you do too, we should make sure the generations after us are capable of taking care of us.
Yes, and the basic idea that while a "modern" capitalist might want automation from a productivity point of view, they still need some consumers at the other end to buy their stuff!
Not exactly, because "governments" are expressly capitalist. While you're right in that governments and capitalists want this type of fodder, OP's nephew is wrong in his assessment of modern capitalists.
As an aside, some religions do teach a duty to be fruitful and multiply. While I don't think capital G "Government" cares who does or doesn't procreate in their country, there are large organized political groups that promote this for strictly ethno-nationalist reasons.
You might should read up on postmodern philosophy before you serve up your relative to the system, for deviating from your "one true narrative of history".
So arrogant.
Someone should have you committed for your personal opinions, which are also wrong, and see how you like it.
To be clear, I'm not saying he should be committed for his opinions, but he does do some other very strange things and I think he really does need help. Unfortunately the medical bills would bankrupt him.
>>I cut him off right there. I think he was drinking, and I haven't talked to him since. I'm considering having him committed because he acts very strange. He may have a drug problem.
You sound like a terrible person for him to have in his life & I hope he cuts you out of it.
"Nobody really wants more people except certain religious sects, and that is only because it allows them to use sexuality to control people. Most modern capitalists would favor automation precisely because it takes unreliable people out of the capitalistic equation and makes conversion of real property to wealth and power easier. The only reason why we're hearing about fertility and birth rate in the last few years is because certain religious organizations are scared they're going to end up losing their tax-free status and leveraging current social crises to make sure they stay relevant by any means necessary. I'm betting they have armies of incels ensnared in their fundamentalist ideologies getting tax-free money to shitpost on the various social networks."
I cut him off right there. I think he was drinking, and I haven't talked to him since. I'm considering having him committed because he acts very strange. He may have a drug problem.
Anyway I disagree with his premise because COVID-19 did really expose weaknesses in the supply chain and global world order and showed that depending completely on foreign entities can make you non-resilient in the face of disaster. So we do need strong families and all that stuff that's being talked about, it's a real actual need. And I do think making life better for people is the way to go, but we need to fix whatever decided that landlords should be getting most of the non-rich people's money first.