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I’m just thinking outside the demographic dogma/status quo box.

1. Very likely European peoples will be *forced* (do or die) to make some harsh adjustments. The 50 or so years of the social hammock we’re seeing now will be over soon. Boo hoo. Kicking a heroin habit must be hard, but some people manage.

2. There is no biological reason why women 20, 40 or 60 years down the road will not have 3, 5 or 10 kids. The motivation for that will be greatly enhanced when the encroaching muslim hordes have been kicked back to wherever they came from.

3. Retirement is a social construct that I think is historically recent. There is no biological reason that people do not work until they die or are supported within the family (3-4 generations living under one roof - like it was for centuries). Heck, my two senior partners are both older than 70 and still working every day (not for lack of funds!). They’ll die at their desks. But they love what they’re doing. Of course, this does not apply to all professions. Boo hoo.

4. Yes, the status quo is unsustainable. From that does *not* follow that the European peoples will simply disappear in 100 or 200 or ... years.

5. I don’t subscribe to doomsday scenarios (global warming, the new ice age, demographic meltdown, whatever someone comes up with to - more often than not - further their own profitable agenda...need I mention Al Gore?)

And a resounding YES to your first question! :-)

BTW, I didn't say it was impossible to turn around from a 1.3 fertility rate (Italy) when your median female age is 45.3 (Italy again). I just said it's unprecedented. It's never been done, ever, in the history of the world.

That's not dogma. That's evidence.

As I mentioned, I have no training or professional experience with demographic science. But if I don't know a lot, I suspect a lot, especially in the light of the above statistics. (While you're thinking outside the box, are you also thinking outside the facts? --- This is not a slam on you, believe me. I'm just wondering.)

It would be interesting if we had a little more evidence to discuss.

I'd love to think Europe could rebound, but the biggest obstacles, as I see it, are not economic or political, but spiritual. You've got people who have cashed out their whole inheritance because they no longer believe in the next life, let alone the next generation.

The kindergartens in London and Hamburg aren't, after all, empty. There's just few Edmunds and Annikas, and lots of Fareeds and Aaliyahs.