Elon Musk Warns of Demographic Winter
European Conservative,
by
Tristan Vanheuckelom
Original Article
Posted By: GustoGrabber,
12/10/2021 6:02:49 AM
During an interview with Wall Street Journal reporter Joanna Stern on Monday, tech mogul and entrepreneur Elon Musk said “civilization is going to crumble” if declining birth rates continue.
The population trend—coined a ‘demographic winter’ by social scientists—has steadily worsened over recent decades, primarily in first-world countries. “There are not enough people,” the 50-year-old father of six said. “I can’t emphasize this enough, there are not enough people.”
Musk pointed out a widely understood assumption, that labor is “the foundation of the economy,” and without labor, production and growth are severely compromised.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
jalo1951 12/10/2021 6:26:12 AM (No. 1002341)
Lots of reasons why this is happening. It is difficult to raise a larger family on one salary unless that person is a very high wage earner. No matter what children still fall on a woman's shoulders. Work full time, have 4 kids, deal with a home and all the issues that go with a family. Not easy and most don't want to deal with it or simply can't. We also no longer live close to relatives that might be able to help out. I had five brothers and sisters, my grandmother lived with us and my mother was able to be home. They made it work and it was not an uncommon household in the 1950's. Times have changed. With inflation climbing higher it is a nonstarter for people who need to buy groceries, clothing and everything else that needs to be consumed in a family. And there are a lot of younger people who have no interest in children. Have to save the planet and not reproduce. It is a conundrum. Besides we can reply on all those AI robots coming down the pike.
8 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
skacmar 12/10/2021 6:36:21 AM (No. 1002344)
Elon Musk said inch nicer words what lots of people say. Poor people pop out babies like rabbits. Wealthier people do not. These people live in poor countries where the population is rising. In wealthier nations, the population is dropping. The Poor people are mass migrating from their poor countries to the wealthier countries. The problem is, once they get to the wealthier countries they stay poor and uneducated (not all) and reproduce fast. This is not a good cycle.
22 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
PChristopher 12/10/2021 6:45:31 AM (No. 1002347)
Oh, no, there are plenty of people.... they're just the wrong kind, and we are going to enter a Communist Dark Age.
16 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
F15 Gork 12/10/2021 6:56:00 AM (No. 1002355)
Pigmentation not numbers is the problem here...
9 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Mizz Fixxit 12/10/2021 7:04:48 AM (No. 1002359)
The USA has the population growth of a 3rd world country. The growth is entirely driven by immigration, legal and otherwise. This is getting to be a crowded country.
15 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
stablemoney 12/10/2021 7:09:20 AM (No. 1002362)
We only need a few good people. Hordes of barbarian invaders is not the answer.
17 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
hoosierblue 12/10/2021 7:17:43 AM (No. 1002365)
We could send them 50 million illegals.
10 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
chumley 12/10/2021 7:50:59 AM (No. 1002388)
Mrs C and I have two daughters. One has four, the other has six. How the hell they afford all those kids is beyond me. The two we had kept us poor till we were in our 40's.
So what happened to all those Zero Population Growth hippies? We achieved that, so now they import dirty people from around the world? Go to any large metro area and you can see what too many people looks like. Here in our Appalachian holler the houses are popping up seemingly daily, while the fields disappear. I'd say we have too many people across the board. Maybe thats why they invented the depopulation shot.
10 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
bgarrett 12/10/2021 8:00:39 AM (No. 1002393)
I dont understand why less population is bad.America had about 150 million in 1950 and we were just fine. Now we have more than double that
10 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Bluefindad 12/10/2021 8:03:09 AM (No. 1002398)
Yes, lots of reasons why this is happening. Young people are encouraged to wait longer to marry and have children. In many cases, fertility drops after late teens/early twenties. Many women in their thirties are now trying desperately to conceive - with limited success. However, the bull in the backyard that no one expresses much concern about is the social wave of LBGT+ converts. We have been content in assuming that their portion of the population remains at 2-3%. In actuality, the proportion is increasing. Young people are swayed by social pressure and the natural need to be different, as well as the desire to be part of a 'righteous' movement. While it is true that a large portion of them - especially females - will revert from homosexuality to normal sexuality, there are many who are chemically and physically neutering themselves. Doesn't bode well for our survival!
9 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
TLCary 12/10/2021 9:02:34 AM (No. 1002461)
#9 "Dependency Ratio". People of productive age create the goods and services that they, children, and the elderly consume. The USA's D.R. in 1950 was 54%, today it's 76% and skyrocketing. Africa is still at 55% because they are maintaining their population. Europe is now 81% and climbing fast. There are limits to how hard you can bleed productive citizens before they give up and join the dependent class and make the situation worse. The only other option is to deny goods and services to the dependant. Declining populations will eventually mean declining tax funding to pay the ever-increasing bills for the retired, (the most powerful voting block in the country), and let's not forget the interest on the gargantuan debt we've run up during our salad days. We have stored nothing and Demographic Winter is coming.
6 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 12/10/2021 9:05:21 AM (No. 1002463)
Musk has six kids? For a workaholic like him, where does he get the time to reproduce?
2 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
TLCary 12/10/2021 9:05:32 AM (No. 1002464)
I just agreed with Elon Musk... I need a shower and to sit quietly and alone for a while. Breath in... Breath out.
3 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
bad-hair 12/10/2021 9:17:35 AM (No. 1002477)
Doesn't necessarily take very long #12. You can probably multi-task it while working.
There are PLENTY of people if the civilization's primary task is to herd goats.
1 person likes this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
red1066 12/10/2021 9:33:49 AM (No. 1002495)
Years ago, a one income family was the norm. If mom worked, it was to supplement the family income by working part time. Now, it takes both parents working full time to make ends meet. That is if there are two parents. I remember going through my parents' papers after they passed away. My mother did not work, and my dad's take home pay was about $70 a week. There were five of us. We lived in a single family home on a half acre of ground, and we went on vacation each summer. Today, you would considered dirt poor if that was your family income.
7 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
MickTurn 12/10/2021 10:10:46 AM (No. 1002535)
Look at Europe...they have been NOT having children for decades and now they have to change their countries to Muslims just to survive...Sad and Pathetic, they did it to themselves!
10 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Strike3 12/10/2021 10:11:17 AM (No. 1002537)
Does money make a person stupid or what? Half of our bright billionaires want the population reduced by one quarter or more. Elon wants more people for worker bees. Civilization will balance out just fine with exactly the number of people we have at any point in time if common sense is employed. Given the current thinking of the do-gooder communist socialists, First World producers should be working and supporting Layabout Third Worlders and welcoming them by the millions into their countries. That little bit of flawed logic is what encourages Third Worlders to have as many kids as possible since everything is "free."
4 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
NorthernDog 12/10/2021 10:23:08 AM (No. 1002559)
One big factor is price of housing, The home I grew up in cost less than $20,000 in the 1960s. It would now cost $600,000. In schools every extra curricular activity has a fee - sometimes hundreds of dollars each. If you have more than 2 kids you are going to be financially strapped.
5 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Strike3 12/10/2021 10:32:37 AM (No. 1002583)
I can relate, #8. Right at the time of life when you are making good money and have the first house paid off, you are obligated by society to put kids through college, buy them cars and help out with all of the financial situations that you as parents did on your own. After the kids are finally gone and independent you sit there with savings that must be managed for possible medical expenses. The few toys you did buy were at the extreme displeasure of the wife. I am still riding a motorcycle but the lectures never end. Rule One, do not get married or have children.
1 person likes this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
Roscoelewis 12/10/2021 11:32:34 AM (No. 1002665)
I hear Mexicans are good workers.
1 person likes this.
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