[Orangedog]

You want a higher birth rate? Then the government, courts, and industry need to stop using people's children as tools for exerting power over parents and their resources. Sure, abortion contributes to the lower birth rate of westerners, but government agencies, courts, lawyers, and a growing prive sector industry has managed to turn children into the easiest way to gain power over the lives of tens of millions of people. I don't like abortion, but if it were ended tomorrow the disincentive to have more children would still be around.

[arthurus]

Good point.

[reformedliberal]

A point totally understood 35 years ago by the Left:"Children are a lifelong sanction on the parents by the State." This was used to reinforce the idea of retaining more personal autonomy by having fewer children and was used in conjunction w/Erhlich's predictions and the availability of abortion on demand to encourage people to not have children.

It was only a matter of time before it was applied to those who had children, anyway.

[Congressman Billybob]

I wonder how much two factors play in the decline of many Western nations' birthrates below the replacement level. One factor is consumerism. Children cost money. The more money you spend on your children, the less you have to spend on yourselves.

The other factor is the decline of public education. If you know that the schools are turning out dummies, and the society itself is getting steadily dumber and more self-destructive, is it just a logical conclusion not to "bring more children into this mess"? I think both those factors play a part. I doubt that anyone can quantify the degree of that impact.

Congressman Billybob

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