The Birth Dearth: What Happens When People in Free Countries Don't Have Enough Babies?

Ben Wattenberg has bucked many a piece of conventional wisdom in his own working life, and in doing so provided refreshingly accurate information about social realities. When he wrote this work about the ' birth dearth' many pooh-poohed him but now the trends which even then were clearly visible in the Industrial world have extended themselves to the third world. And if the birth- dearth is more apparent in Europe where replacement - level fertility is not in sight among major nations now too Japan, South Korea and even China are at below replacement- levels. Wattenberg understood that the birth- dearth would present great social problems including that of younger and smaller generations demographically having to work harder to pay the massive government debts to social security programs for the retired. But the birth- dearth promises social and economic problems in additional ways including a problem of declining economic growth over-all. So far as we know economic expansions have historically been connected with expanding populations. We know no precedent for declining populations being accompanied by new economic growth. Wattenberg is also sharply critical of the culture of narcissism of individual focusing on ' me and me alone' which he sees as responsible for the ' birth dearth ' in the West. Here he is not simply social scientist but moralist of the first order.

Wattenberg provides sufficient evidence that society will suffer with current trends to limit our offspring. Just one issue for your consideration..what do you think will happen to social security without enough people in subsequent generations to pay for it...read his thoughts on it! Interesting read!