,
5 tweets,
1 min read
Read on Twitter
Simple explanation for declining birth rates: continued participation in traditional (religious) communities requires meeting certain milestones (marriage, children) whereas continued participation in modern (commercial) 'communities' requires delaying them.
There seems to be a relationship between fertility and religious 'commitment'. My guess is that what underlies this is participation in the community. Declining fertility within religious groups is likely due to declining participation (replaced with nominal affiliation).
A typical pattern within liberalism: Casually destroy the local communal structure that supports pro-social behavior because of moronic fantasies about 'sovereign individuals', then try to fix it using inadequate tools (monetary incentives, etc).
It's hard to see liberalism ever fixing fertility, because it's wedded to an individualistic view of public space and so can't create institutions that encourage and support marriage, children, etc, through expectations of participation.
These social support structures for family-formation no doubt vary considerably between cultures (e.g., between Christian cultures and cultures based on ancestor worship), so the space of possibilities is probably large. 'Illiberal' China might be able to figure something out.
