In this era when the world leadership class plans to kill the vast majority of the people in the world are accelerating on all fronts; it is easy to forget that - even without this external assault - there has long since been a general decision among the mass populations of the developed world to chose extinction.
This can be seen from observing the Fertility Rates of all the wealthier and more powerful nations; which are considerably less than the minimum replacement level of two (and a bit) children per woman, and falling. Any (apparent, slight) exceptions are due to recent mass immigration from undeveloped nations - and the sufficiently-fertile sub-groups of native 'Western' populations can only be found among minorities of most religious and most socially-disengaged.
And the whole scenario is topped-off by the well-known observation that fertility rates go down with increasing average intelligence, conscientiousness, education, health, wealth and status - especially strongly among women.
What all this means is that the masses of the world have all made broadly the same decision to stop reproducing to the extent that they are most able to afford children, are capable of raising children - and are capable of maintaining the world Industrial System that has allowed the population to increase for a maximum of a billion in c1800 (and through all preceding history) to more than 7 billion now.
Of course, the overall world population itself continues to increase among those who cannot choose to limit their reproduction, and who are too feckless to do so. In other words, the data suggests that these children are unchosen, and would not be born if the fertile populations of the world could prevent them.
These children who fuel world population growth are, in effect, kept-alive and raised by technology and subsidies from the dwindling, ageing populations of the developed world; those who have reduced their own fertility to inevitable-extinction levels.
Consequently, the median-average age of nations has reached an astonishing degree of divergence between countries; with the average Japanese being aged 50 - which means that there are a very low proportion of women capable of having children; while the average citizen of Niger is 15 - which means that more than half the population are children.
Neither of these population structures are biologically viable; and there are many similar (if less extreme) examples.
So, if we looked at the population structure and distribution of planet earth from the perspective of an alien naturalist; the situation is biologically non-viable.
The human species has painted ourselves into a corner from which it would be exceedingly difficult to extract ourselves without global collapse, colossal levels of death, and immense suffering - even assuming there was general awareness and recognition of the problem, and a sincere and motivated desire to escape; neither of which is the case.
Therefore; even if we in The West did not have a literally-demon-controlled ruling class who hate us - and desire to damn, torment, destroy and replace us; it is a fact that the mass of humans have - by their choices - shown that their self-chosen 'revealed preference' is for annihilation.
Corruption is extreme is on both sides of the ruler-ruled divide - and this fact needs to be kept in mind.
Most interesting, and somewhat depressing. Out of all the “doom and gloom” issues in the world right now, you’re the only one to hit on this and I’m afraid you’re spot on. The closest thing to this was something I read years ago, that we were “doomed” because those that cannot produce are populating much faster than those that DO produce, but you offer the “why” to that scenario, laid out perfectly. Thank you.
ReplyDeletePretty much, the Amish will inherit the world...But as you and Michael Woodley have pointed out in the past, intelligence is decreasing..It's women going to college and grad school that is killing the birth rate, and they don't have to be intelligent to do that anymore, at least in America...
ReplyDelete@p - "the Amish will inherit the world" - Realistically, not likely. When food gets short, piratical gangs or armed men will take their stuff (etc.)
ReplyDelete"It's women going to college and grad school that is killing the birth rate"
Actually, I think it is ultimately apostasy from a communal life guided primarily by religion (which includes the dilution to 'liberal'/ moderate religion) that is *primarily* responsible for chosen subfertility - because that explains the exceptions. This also explains why women go to college and grad school *instead* of having children; and choose careers over marriage ad family.
Since we can't return to communal religion - if there is a future (which I doubt) then we (in sufficient numbers) will have to choose personally, actively and consciously, what was in the past socially-inculcated passively and unconsciously.
If we don't (which we probably won't) then there won't be much left soon.
"Actually, I think it is ultimately apostasy from a communal life guided primarily by religion ... that is *primarily* responsible for chosen subfertility"
ReplyDeleteI like the above explanation for dropping fertility. I have never found the usual explanation for drops in fertility and marriage rates, as being caused by improvements in female education, as compelling. I am always left doubting that todays reproductive age females are better “educated” than my parent’s generation. Nor is it believable to me that evolution would open human pair bonding and reproduction behavior to modification, via sitting in a classroom or reading textbooks. Species survival behavior is generally not open to conscious control.
The absence of stimuli, which trigger the evolutionary programs to pair bond and reproduce, or even the presence of stimuli which trigger “wait, not yet” programs, are ideas that I find much more compelling.
Hi Bruce! Thanks as always for sharing your honest but painful assessments. Two questions for you:
ReplyDelete1) When do you see the end coming? Broad brush, in a decade, a generation, or a century?
2) When the end comes, do you expect a Christian end times (out of Revelation) as some Millennialists do, or do you anticipate a secular collapse (in both senses of the word) with a dark age afterwards?
In other words, are we looking at The End of History, or the end of western civilization?
@Marco - I think it is very difficult for modern people to understand what an extraordinary distortion the human mind underwent when it chose to reject God and live as if there was no afterlife.
ReplyDelete@RO - I don't seem to have any aptitude at prediction - almost all the things I have predicted have not happened in the timeframe I anticipated.
ReplyDeleteWe are in an unprecedented time - so I don't think anybody knows how much damage can be inflicted before irreversible collapse ensues - I think the end could begin tomorrow, or by 10 years - I find it hard to imagine things continuing very long. But I don't really know.
No - I don't expect the end times to follow the pattern given in Revelation - at least not in detail. Following the Fourth Gospel, I believe that Christ's work was wholly done by his ascension - and there is no reason for a 'second coming'; and I believe that Heaven already exists - and that since Jesus many people have resurrected there. We do not need to await the end times for it.
I understand the end times to be an era when Satan rules the world (by choice of Men) and self-destruction feeds upon itself.
But these times are what is most needed and helpful for some Men (i.e. many of those souls who are Now incarnated) to awaken and come to follow Christ - these are souls who would almost-certainly not respond to any lesser situation; which is why the end times was allowed to happen and continue.
"But these times are what is most needed and helpful for some Men (i.e. many of those souls who are Now incarnated) to awaken and come to follow Christ - these are souls who would almost-certainly not respond to any lesser situation; which is why the end times was allowed to happen and continue."
ReplyDeleteHad not heard it articulated this way before but that makes perfect sense!
What better way to awaken even the most stubborn of souls than allowing exactly what Modern Man is asking for - evil at every corner complemented by global destruction.
@David - My understanding is that this actually operates at the level of individual persons; and the overall social picture is a sum of God's continually working to create the best experiences for individual souls to learn what they need.
ReplyDeleteBut there must also be a broad social, group-level, consideration of the *kind* of situation that suits the needs of the kinds of souls being incarnated - I this presumably explains the reason for different races and types of nation; and for the differences through history.
Again, there is an indirect spiritual confirmation of a sort, from the fact that the Global Establishment try to destroy and deny such differences.
With evil, it is what they work *against* over the long-haul that is most revealing (accepting that all their communications - e.g. statements of aims and principles - are dishonest, and designed to mislead and manipulate).
If we regard the majority of Men incarnated today as being (from before their incarnation) among the hardest of 'hard cases' in terms of an innate propensity to reject God and refuse to follow Jesus Christ - and to embrace the demonic agenda; then - as you say - it may be that to give people what they ask for, and then enable them to see the consequences, may be the best possible 'educational' experience.
But in the end, it is always up to the individual person to make the right choice - this cannot be compelled; every Man is able to defy God and reject the choice of Heaven.
I always thought the problem wasn't education per se, rather the content of the teachings and the social context of the schooling. For example, many people are taught to graduate from school and get a good job before marrying and having children. There is nothing wrong with this in a country with a median postsecondary education time of 4 years and a clear track of entry level jobs available to most people.
ReplyDeleteThe most destructive thing college officials are doing is perpetuating career advice that has been out of date for over a half century. They do it in search of prestige and funding, but at high cost to the culture as a whole.