Posted on 05/02/2010 11:43:59 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
Luke DeMarte, of Chicago, writes: In your column on Monday you said the following: "My view -- the infusion of people from south of the border strengthens our country, saving us from the demographic death spiral dooming places like Italy and Japan -- is the standard liberal claptrap, so I won't belabor you with it."
What do you mean by the "demographic death spiral?" I understand that Italy and Japan are pretty insular places with little diversity, but I'm not sure how that equates to a death spiral.
Excellent question. Sometimes, a social problem so freaks us out that fear of it lingers long after the problem itself goes away.
Exhibit No. 1: overpopulation, at least in Western countries. Having spent two centuries scaring ourselves with Thomas Malthus' gloomy and mistaken predictions of mass starvation after rapid population growth outstrips food production (he didn't realize how adept we'd get at farming) and spending the 1970s subjected to dystopian visions of a world overstuffed with people -- dig up a copy of John Hersey's novel My Petition for More Space -- we have never quite gotten our heads around the idea that many industrialized nations are rapidly losing people.
L'Italia ha bisogno dei bambini First Italy -- a lovely nation, I should point out, rich in history, beauty and culture; I would be there tomorrow if I could, with my sportcoat draped over my shoulders, sipping an espresso at an outdoor cafe in Naples . . .
But I digress. In 1850, the Italian fertility rate -- the number of births per woman -- was five. Now, it's 1.3. Which means that the population constantly declines -- it's expected to fall 20 percent in coming decades.
In Japan -- also an intriguing country, of ancient traditions and aesthetic pleasures; I would be there right now if I could, steaming in an onsen in Kyoto . . .
Sorry. In Japan, the situation is even worse. With the lowest birthrate in the world, the population of Japan -- 127 million now -- will fall to 95 million in 2050. The total number of children in Japan has dropped every year for 28 years in a row.
In case you feel envy -- thinking "easier to find daycare!" or "shorter waits at popular restaurants!" -- allow me to reprint something from the scholarly journal Population & Societies.
"The projections forecast the total extinction of the Japanese population by around 3000 if lowest-low fertility continues indefinitely. But even limiting the analysis to the next 50 years, this projected decline will lead to profound changes in the Japanese age structure and a marked decrease in the working-age population."
What kind of changes? Increased poverty and stagnation -- in Japan, there are towns that have emptied out. If you think our recession is bad here, Japan has been taking on water for 20 years. Remember when they were going to own us all? That was in the 1980s. Nobody worries about that anymore.
Shrinking population isn't a problem in the United States because we have immigrants coming across the border. While the nativists who so grip our country focus on poverty and crime -- though never, it seems, long enough to grasp that we've always had those woes, or that crime has been steadily declining -- the truth is that young workers with growing families fuel the economy.
"Innovation and new ideas get associated with a youthful labor force," said William Frey, a demographics expert at the Brookings Institution, who said Europe risks becoming "a geriatric ghetto" with a shrinking, aging population.
If I sometimes treat the anti-immigration crowd as if they're not only insane but anti-patriotic to boot, it's because they seem that way, and not just to me. (London's The Economist headlined its story this week on the doings in Arizona with a succinct: "Hysterical Nativism.")
The Minutemen militia sorts are attacking the very thing that will save us. If I hated America and wanted to destroy her, I'd try to close the borders and deport our immigrants, of course wrapping myself in the flag all the while. The fact that proponents of this folly are ignorant of both global realities and the stark consequences should they tragically prevail is a defense but not much of one. They aren't guilty of treason, just fear and idiocy.
Japan's problems are self-inflicted; it has one of the strictest immigration policies in the world. Your great-grandfather could have come from Korea 100 years ago, and your passport in Japan would still identify you a resident Korean.
It boggles my mind that anybody would want that in America, with their dire talk about stopping "anchor babies." I try to point out the cautionary example of Japan to those advocating changes in our laws; ears covered, they flee, perhaps gritting their teeth and repeating "Must . . . not . . . think . . ."
Japan is not facing demographic oblivion without a fight.
"The Japanese government is planning to introduce a less restrictive immigration policy," Population & Societies notes. "But as massive recourse to immigration appears out of the question, its demographic consequences will be limited."
A reminder that we are not spared this decline through any planning or policy or intrinsic worth, not because we can't match Japan xenophobe for xenophobe. Credit a geographical accident -- we are not an island. The border is right there, young Hispanics, looking for work, come across it. Sometimes, I think America is the luckiest nation on earth -- blessed with natural resources, protected by two enormous oceans, and spared the consequences of our periodic embrace of lunacy by sheer chance. God must truly love the United States, to smile upon us in this fashion. You may argue if you like.
mailto:nsteinberg@suntimes.com
The left and MSM want to lump legals and legals in the same boat like they tried to do with embryonic and adult stem cells. “You are against stem cell research!”
Its part of the leftist strategy.
The problem is our liberal culture has conditioned young White people to be totally against the concept of having children.
I’m younger, and I’ve seen it prevalent among other young people I’ve known. How ever, I believe my wife and I made up for their lack of pro-creation. lol
Yes, there are more than 10 million Americans unemployed and we want more of these uneducated, murderers who couldn’t even take care of their country in mexico which is now owned by the drug cartels and now they want to wreck this one..sounds like libtard “logic” to me.
Yes, they do like to dumb down every conversation.
The author is also ignoring that even if we had no immigration at all, we wouldn’t be facing the type of demographic death spiral of places like Russia or Japan. For the moment at least, we still have a healthy birthrate; the leftists are just doing everything in their power to change that.
He knows that, but libs will never stop their tactic of omitting the "I-word" ("illegal") from the discourse.
No kidding...in fact, on another board I was discussing immigration with a marxist liberal and I was telling him that I thought the legal immigration quotas were too low, and they should annually adjust indexed to the employment percentage in the US. I also pointed out the racist history of the current quota by nationality was (installed mostly be democrats, of course). The percentage allowed from various nations is indexed to the number of people from that nation already in the US. Of course this means we mostly get immigrants from one nation...and I was calling for more diversity. It's always fun to use liberals language against them.
BS. The opposite is true.
If the US was a lifeboat the left would still be pulling people from the world in despite it being near capsizing and they're not going to be happy until it does.
“He knows that, but libs will never stop their tactic of omitting the “I-word” (”illegal”) from the discourse.”
NOT JUST THE “I-word”, but most anything that requires omission to achieve their goal, their point. Lying by omission is SOP for the Leftists.
Illegal immigration is another story and must be dealt with decisively.
The demagogues mostly from the DemocRATic party love to amp up the confusion and deliberately stir up a world of confusion and strife if they can. That way the real issue - ILLEGAL immigration - gets lost in the shuffle.
Let's hope there are enough of us to stop the charade and deal decisively with shutting down borders to illegals. Those that are already here:
- In jail or legal trouble - deport immediately.
- The rest, give them a grace period time to come forward voluntarily & ID themselves, screen and deport uncaught criminals (other than they're illegal entry).
- Those that are left that have come forward are given the chance to what they would have to do to gain legal entry apply and go though all the steps necessary. Those who refuse, deport immediately.
- After the grace period (a month or so), round thos who didn't come forward and kick them out. Hasta la vista baby, maybe, dont forget to write, and next time try it the legal way.
These people shout diversity at every social norm to try to dilute it yet when it comes to immigrants....
I would emphatically add assimilation to your list. Language and culture: Speak english, display the US flag. Celebrate July 4, not May 5.
What would help Japan is NOT more immigration but more JAPANESE children. The same goes for Italy. The same goes for us. If we didn’t cherish baby-killing and contraceptives so damn much we would be a stronger society all around.
I am. Thee needs to be a twenty year moratorium while we deport the illegals who are here now.
I do not know of a single conservative who is calling for an end to immigration. NOT EVEN ONE! Nearly all are concerned about uncontrolled **ILLEGAL** immigration! ( Is a “duh” necessary?)
Geeze! There are plenty of really smart and highly educated people with long lists of university degrees who are desperate to come to the U.S. And...They speak English, too! ( Better than many inner city high schoolers!) Let's let them come to the United States.
And...Americans are concerned about the immigrants who come to the U.S. and then immediately get on the welfare rolls. If there are immigrants who can come here and won't be on welfare, let's give them first priority.
Such a debate is impossible as long as illegal immigration is rampant and we have no control of our borders.
The liberal tactic of trying to combine the two is like equating house breakers with house guests. The former are, by definition, criminal and it is NOT a coincidence that a disproportionate number are also criminals in matters other than illegal entry.
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