If You Are Contracepting, You Are Part of A Very Big Problem

Madrid Blogspot ^ | January 27, 2009 | Patrick Madrid

[NYer]

Global aging, combined with plummeting birth rates, is a catastrophically dangerous menace that only a few people seem to be waking up to. You may not be familiar with terms like “global aging” and “demographic winter,” but you will be soon.

I've been giving public lectures on the problem of global aging for the past 7 years or so, and my audiences are always shocked and dumbfounded as I explain how the West's ever expanding population of old people (due, thank God, to the ever-improving capabilities of bio-medical science), while a good thing in itself, will soon become a prime target for the forced-euthanasia crowd as the decline in birth rates among women of child-bearing age throughout the West (as well as major non-Western countries like Japan and Russia) forces an ever-shrinking number of younger, working citizens to shoulder the economic burden of paying for the retirement benefits consumed by the ever-expanding population of retired, old folks.

This is a lethal combination that will, I am certain, begin playing itself out with horrifying new consequences within the next 10, 15, 20 years. Perhaps sooner. It's hard to predict. What we do know for sure, though, is that the West has been marinating for decades now in the bloody serum of legalized abortion, and it breathes the toxic atmosphere of ubiquitous pornography, consumerism, and the contraception mentality. What would have been unthinkable to Americans a mere 50 years ago (gay marriage, a billion-dollar abortion industry, the rise of euthanasia, etc.) has become commonplace and increasingly  unremarkable in this generation.

Where are we headed?

American economist Peter G. Peterson, in his book Gray Dawn: How the Coming Age Wave Will Transform America and the World (Random House, 1999), predicts: “Global aging will become the transcendent political and economic issue of the twenty-first century. I will argue [in this book] that — like it or not, and there's every reason to believe we won't like it — renegotiating the established social contract in reponse to global aging will soon dominate and daunt the public policy agendas or all the developed countries” (p. 5).

What Peterson means by “renegotiate the established social contract” is: You retired people, as well as all you who expect to retire in the next decade or two, don't expect that you'll be taken care of by the rest of us the way you now are or expect to be taken care of. Safety nets like Social Security and Medicare may have to be drastically downsized or even, if things get economically bad enough, eliminated. In other words, we may not be able to continue paying for the burdensome expenses old people impose on an ever-shrinking younger workforce (Thanks, contracepting couples! Thanks, abortion industry!). And what happens then? 

I've been saying for years now what is being reported yet again in this article. What is now known as the “right to die movement” is steadily morphing into what will soon become the “oblicagtion to die movement.” 

The politics of “young versus old” is rising, slowly but surely, and we will live to see its pernicious effects. Soon enough we will begin to see how the demographic winter results in an intergenerational struggle. The younger people, who have lived their entire lives learning from the media and our culture as a whole that other people are only useful or valuable insofar as they do one or more of a few things: give sexual pleasure, provide entertainment, make money, or produce some kind of product or service.

30+ years of legalized abortion has hardened millions of younger Americans into seeing unborn children as “parasites” who should be eliminated because they are inconvenient and unwanted.  50 years of the mainstreaming of pornography (thanks, Heff!) have educated a wide swath of Americans to look at others as objects for pleasure. And the aggressive cult of scientism has successfully swayed many people to look at unpleasant realities such as aging, pain, and lonliness as intolerable conditions that must be eliminated at all costs. 

So, barring some miracle (and while I do believe in miracles, I also believe in Divine Justice), I predict that the next step in the morbid evolution of the West's enmeshment in the culture of death will entail such horrors as forced euthansia and cloning human beings for body parts. This will begin to take shape as soon as enough people who have no belief in God and no regard for the value of human life begin to realize what “demographic winter” means for them financially.

With that in mind, please consider the chilling points made in this LifeSite article:

Celebrated columnist and pro-family leader Don Feder gave a jaw-dropping presentation on the coming 'Demographic Winter' at the Rose Dinner which closes the official March for Life festivities every year. Speaking to hundreds of attendees, Feder suggested that the demographic problem of worldwide declining birthrates "could result in the greatest crisis humanity will confront in this century" as "all over the world, children are disappearing."
 
"In the Western world, birthrates are falling and populations are aging," said Feder. "The consequences for your children and grandchildren could well be catastrophic."
 
Feder noted, "In 30 years, worldwide, birth rates have fallen by more than 50%. In 1979, the average woman on this planet had 6 children. Today, the average is 2.9 children, and falling."  He explained the situation noting, "demographers tell us that with a birthrate of 1.3, everything else being equal, a nation will lose half of its population every 45 years."
 
Beyond an inability to pay for pensions, it is likely that euthanasia will be one looked-to solution to the aging crisis, he said.

"Demographic Winter is the terminal stage in the suicide of the West - the culmination of a century of evil ideas and poisonous policies,'" he said.  Among them he listed:
 
"Abortion - As I mentioned a moment ago, worldwide, we're killing 42 million people a year. It's as if an invading army killed every man woman and child in Italy - then repeated the process every year.
 
"Contraception - For the first time in history, just under half the world's population of childbearing age uses some form of birth control. Some of us remember when births weren't controlled and pregnancies weren't planned. With all the wailing about man-made Global Warming, carbon footprints and the ozone layer, wouldn't it be ironic if what did us in wasn't the SUV but the IUD? . . . (read article)

 

[Antoninus]

Complaints about it are just the usual whines that spew from elitists when people insist on doing what they think is best rather than doing what the elitists think is best for them.

How come when Hollyweird, the elite media, and the government convince people to contracept, sterilize, and abort, they're not "elitists" who think they know what's best for everyone? It's only those who say, "don't contracept, have babies, and children are a blessing."

[steve-b]

Richest nation? Now that the picture has become clear, the hints of a collectivist viewpoint stand out like sore thumbs. I really should have noticed much earlier....

[Antoninus]

Huh? So, you are pinning your argument on the premise that Stalinism is superior to the (partly) free body politic of modern Russia, Comrade Antoninus?

Again, you have nothing to offer. Your motto should be, "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with BS."

Guess which category that pathetic argument falls into?

[Tax-chick]

With people living longer and having fewer children, a system where people get to retire at 65 and be supported by the working population is simply untenable.

Yes, it is. Another part that's not going to work much longer is non-working people's being supported by the working population their entire lives.

The modern social-welfare state is an experiment that has failed. The outcome of the failure is not yet evident to most voters, but it's going to kick people where they live "soon," in global-history terms. Those who are old (70s-80s) now may not realize what happened, but many of those now 50s and 60s may find themselves "lives not worth living" a lot sooner than they expect.

[steve-b]

Obviously, giving people the ability to effectively control the physical universe is a blessing (from God, if you believe that's the ultimate source of the underlying order of nature that makes it possible).

(The fact that this particular advance is fairly recent is a more comprehensive rebuttal to your earlier point, such as it is, than the specific example of post-Soviet Russia.)

[Antoninus]

Now that the picture has become clear, the hints of a collectivist viewpoint stand out like sore thumbs.

Oh, I'm sorry--is the United States no longer a nation? And describing it as such makes one a collectivist? LOL. Simply pathetic.

[steve-b]

Guess which category that pathetic argument falls into?

"I'll take 'Arguments commonly used by Antoninus' for $400...."

[Antoninus]

Obviously, giving people the ability to effectively control the physical universe is a blessing (from God, if you believe that's the ultimate source of the underlying order of nature that makes it possible).

Spoken like a true amoralist. Using that logic, we also have the means to control human "overpopulation" with the use of relatively recent modern advances like atomic weaponry. I suppose opposing that method would qualify one as a collectivist who rejected the blessings of God as well, eh Steve?

[Citizen Blade]

The modern social-welfare state is an experiment that has failed.

The modern welfare state worked when (a) there were 8+ workers for every retired person; (b) there was a sense of shame attached to being on the dole; and (c) retirees died at 70, rather then 85.

None of these are really applicable anymore. The system will inevitably collapse under its own weight. It's just a question of how much damage it will do on its way down.

[Citizen Blade]

How come when Hollyweird, the elite media, and the government convince people to contracept, sterilize, and abort, they're not "elitists" who think they know what's best for everyone?

On this issue, people didn't need much convincing. The rise of effective and cheap birth control, coupled with the overturning of the laws that banned contraception, was more than enough to make tens of millions of Americans go out and control their fertility.

For most people, women especially, unregulated fertility is a nuisance and a limitation.

[samiam1972]

If my husband and I had waited until we could afford to have children, we never would have had any. We have been blessed with four so far and wouldn’t change a thing.

[Tax-chick]

The modern welfare state worked when briefly.

When conditions changed, in large part due to the effects of the new system, it began to crash. It's not yet quite in free-fall (defined as massive, unmistakable societal disruption) but it's only a matter of time.

Russia first, or Japan? Certainly Europe falls to the Moslems before the U.S. goes belly-up, since we have a larger and more resilient citizen population and less-hostile immigrants, overall.

[murron]

All I can say is, God Bless you and your wonderful family. Maybe you can’t see it hnow, but you are so blessed. Please count your blessings, and the rest will take care of itself. You may not be able to provide all the worldly goods, but you have more riches than those who have beautiful homes and no children. Please hang in there. You will survive and will look back at these times, I hope, with very fond memories.

[murron]

One more thing. I don’t have 7 children, but I do have 4. They are all grown now, but when they were small, and I had the first 3 in in a 3 year period, we were struggling as well. We had some IRS problems, which kept our income very low, and we were struggling to make ends meet as well. It was very hard, and I broke down in tears the week before Christmas because things looked so bleak. I have been where you are, and I wouldn’t give one of my children back so that my husband and I wouldn’t have had to struggle. Things have gotten easier for us now, and I’d be willing to bet that this will happen to you as well.

[bronxboy]

Children are expensive...no I am happy to have the four and hopefully provide for them in these tough times...I may live in a rich nation, but I am not rich

[bronxboy]

Muslims strap bombs on their kids...so they need more.

[bronxboy]

God blessed me with four lovely children, but I still have to feed them and clothe them...welfare moms get criticized all the time for doing this.

[99Floyd]

Thank you Patrick for your efforts to reveal the truth about birth control, euthanasia, loss of respect for life.

Terry Schiavo X 10,000’s, slowly, quietly.

Reminds me of the saying,
‘God forgives but nature never forgives.’
We will indeed reap what we sow.

[ga medic]

“Things have gotten easier for us now, and I’d be willing to bet that this will happen to you as well.”

Thanks. That probably isn’t true for a lot of reasons, but we will survive. My point wasn’t to complain about my own situation, so I apologize if that is how it came across. I love all of my kids, and could not imagine not having them. Even so, the two on the way, will come at a cost to the others. My first 5 range from 18 to 13.

I can completely understand those who choose to limit the number of children they have. It is a responsible decision, even if it doesn’t agree with my faith. Maybe some are being selfish, but most are probably just trying to make sure that they can give their kids the attention and time they will need. Not everyone is cut out for raising a large family.

[bronxville]

“What is now known as the “right to die movement” is steadily morphing into what will soon become the “oblicagtion (sic) to die movement.””

Very true. There’s a lot of resentment regarding old people and the very sick who are “using up all our resources”. People have hardened over the years.

Warning: NEVER fall for inpatient pallitive care for yourself or a family member. My sister (52 y/o) lasted one day under that label. I agreed to it because they told me she’d be pain free. Well she sure was after a few heavy doses of IV morphine. I arrived the next morning and she was unresponsive and died that afternoon. Insofar as I was concerned it was Euthanasia. I did some investigating and it’s been going on for years. The patients have Cancer or other catastrophic illness so it’s not detected and if it is - well they were endstage Cancer patients.