The Future of Global Depopulation
Sometimes we do not have a concept of something until we see images of what is taking place.
By now, many are aware that the world is facing a population crisis. Unlike what we were told for 5 decades, it is not overpopulation that is the peril. Instead, we are facing the potential of the species being radically reduced.
The global fertility rates are very telling. This is a situation that could be worse than the Black Death. We are looking at a 70% of the loss of the global population. Unlike before, this will take decades as compared to 7 years.
The Global Depopulation Crisis
Japan has 11 million akiya. These are homes in the rural areas that the heirs do not want. They live in urban areas and how no interest in dealing with the old homes. Selling is not an option since they are in towns in decline.
This nation is the poster child for depopulation since they have been dealing with it for a few decades. Here is a video of a school that is down to 8 students.
It is built for hundreds of students yet is in the single digits.
This is no exclusive to Japan. 30% of the the global population live in countries that it is falling and over 80% live in below replacement including India.
In addition to having a decline, we are also facing an aging population. This means the average age is increasing. An older population requires more social services while also being less productive. As things stands NOW, from an economic perspective, countries are dependent upon the working age population to pay for the retirees. It is a model that works well when the population at the bottom (the youngest) exceed the older ones.
When we look at Japan's demographic tree (above), we see it looks like nothing more than a Ponzi Scheme. It is evident the money paid in by the younger generations is not going to come back to them. We also can see how there is not going to be Enough paying in to sustain all taking out of the system.
Technology and Automation
How does technology factor into this?
We are in an era where technology is advancing at a rapid pace. This could help to offset some of the demographics. Production can be increased through automation.
The challenge is consumption.
Basically, we are looking at the requirement for a major shift in the economic design of our system. We can easily see how it is unsustainable.
We are looking at things being altered regardless due to technology.
The age of abundance is coming upon us. However, the production of goods and services is only one facet of the equation. There will be massive societal issues that are going to require attention. Unfortunately, it does not seem like we are even interested in what is taking place. The fact that some are still trying to push the overpopulation narrative shows how far away we are from approaching these in a sensible way.
Fertility rates do not lie. It is only a matter of math, extending it out over time, we see where the path leads. China really screwed itself with the one child policy that lasted 40 years. They are far from the only one in this situation.
How do we change this? So far, no country has figured it out. Reversing fertility rates is a multi-generational project. The only solution is to start having more kids. So far, at least in the western countries, this is resisted. In fact, fertility rates keep falling, with South Korea leading the way.
Because of this, we are likely to see more videos like the one above.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
If A.I., robotics, and blockchains make many jobs redundant, is flatlining population really a problem?
Depends upon a number of factors. It is easy to paint these topics with a broad stroke but they do not affect everything evenly. For example, robotics is going to devastate some industries while not really affecting others, at least for a long time. AI will do the same.
So what is the skillset of the population because there will still be humans required for many positions. What kind of brain drain do some countries experience (although AI might compensate for this)? How is the economy structured because, as it stands now, we have something that will not likely translate into large percentages of the population not contributing economically.
Then there is the pace this all happens. How does the technology, and more important, its impact, compare to the pace of population decline along with aging problem?
These questions are much different for the US or Australia as compared to Japan and South Korea.
This is so lovely, you talked about the big problem around the world that could get much worse. I believe the leaders and everyone else everywhere needs to focus on this right away and take strong action to fix issues. Because if we decide to ignore it or pretend it's not a big deal, things could get really bad in the future and become something we cannot manage and probably render many people useless.
I think it is mostly the third world countries that are having less fertility problems. I think the fertility is still above 2, but has been decreasing the past few years. I think robotics and AI are going to help the world transition to less people.
That is true. But we are seeing it in the second world countries. And even the third world is seeing a decline albeit still above replacement rate.
japan is kind of extreme tho O.O its kind of ironic how a lot of the asian porn come from theirh country but then they are probably the people that have the least sex in the world i think :x
@taskmaster4450le
This is a type of long-term problem that I've stopped to reflect on a few times and curiously, Japan was the first country I remembered, as I've seen news related to fertility problems... young people don't want to have children.
With the advancement of technology, many people become increasingly "enslaved" in social networks, for example, real life becomes something that is just necessary like going to school, college, going to work... less real life in a way people are social and this is also influenced by the country, economically speaking.
There are several factors why people are less and less wanting to have children and when they do, it is at most one or two. Here in Brazil there is a flawed pension system and you even gave me a tip for a post in the future hahaha...
I imagine that one of the salvations will be what the machines did in The Matrix, remember? We were a battery for them... AI managed to make us reproduce without the traditional method...
But seriously, the direction this is going is worrying. Thinking about ways to reverse this would be a priority for any country.