Abortion is not mentioned in this story about plunging school age populations in the Blue States, but it should be. The areas with the highest abortion rates have the greatest drop in school age populations.
All the do-gooders tell us that immigration is the answer to our problems, that if we just let in more people, Social Security and Medicaid will survive. This article should put those arguments to rest.
Immigration is not a panacea. It can boost population in the short term, but much like hard drugs, you need more and more of it over time to maintain the boost. At least the article mentions this argument.
In the short term, or perhaps medium term, a dearth of children can be a benefit. Yes, you need to close schools, which causes some pain, but once that is done, your property taxes can be much lower. It is only in the long term that a lack of workers, new homeowners, and families will take its toll on society.
BTW, you can defeat the Tribune paywall by cutting and pasting the web address of the article into Google.
Then there is this comment on the article:
"Continued growth has got to be the biggest Ponzi scheme of them all. We
already have almost 7 billion people on the Earth, which, the last time I
checked, doesn't have unlimited resources. I think it's about time that
people start thinking about sustaining current levels and leaving
something behind for those who follow us so they can have a decent life,
too.
It is so disingenuous to talk about leaving things better
for our kids while at the same time crying about having to cut back on
our own consumption/entitlements. I didn't have a child because I needed
someone to support me when I'm old--I will support myself."
That is a nice sentiment, but it simply isn't true. It would be nice if this commenter could "support herself when old", but the system doesn't work that way. The young pay for the old under our old age entitlement system, no matter what liberals like this commenter think. The childless are paid for by folks who had children, like it or not.
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4 comments:
The bust started in the mid 1970s, powered by, among other things, abortion. In 2007 we took another leg down and we haven't recovered yet.
China bought a demographic dividend by imposing the 1 child policy in the late 1970s. That dividend has now expired as of last year and it's all down side at this point (which is why you shouldn't be too scared about the PRC).
When we build out infrastructure, we embed assumptions about who is going to be around when it breaks down and that they are going to be numerous enough and rich enough to rebuild the road, replace the water pipe, etc. Funny enough, nobody has those numbers to hand. We have an unplanned expenditure of $1T coming up for water pipe replacement between now and 2035. How much is that going to hit Hammond, Munster, or Crown Point and have we put aside enough to pay for it without taking a significant hit to our living standard? Nobody has the numbers to hand.
Seriously, shut up. How is this a liberal or conservative issue? You, although you failed to win the surveyor's office, continue to dredge through the mud looking for anything that could be made remotely partisan. Did you get the pun there? Or am I free to anonymously and inappropriately call you an idiot?
Your blog, your rules.
I don't always agree with Buzzcut. For instance, we have sincere differences on the value of north county outreach, where I think he's flat out wrong on the subject and have told him so, repeatedly.
That doesn't stop us from collaborating where we agree and occasionally doing some good. If I were to bring up our difference on north county outreach every post, it would get boring, fast. Is that what you're attempting to do, bore Buzzcut's audience away?
Do you even know who James Taranto is? Buzzcut's doing a classic Roe Effect article. This is a fairly well recognized line of attack against pro choicers. Taranto's been doing this in the Wall Street Journal since 2003. Get with the times and keep up. I don't know if you're a righty or a lefty but ignorance of Taranto and the Roe Effect is just plain embarrassing.
Of course it is a liberal/ conservative issue. Unfortunately, the online article doesn't have the maps that the print version has, but the map of the US showing the states with plunging populations of children are all blue states: New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, and California, among others. It is not a coincidence that these are pro-abortion welfare states.
And, yes, this whole blog is about dredging up partisan differences. That's what I do.
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