One of the things de Tocqueville points out is the connection between the policies of America, individualism and freedom and with the foundation of the family. He tracks the growth rate of the American population through the years, and uses the argument of their large sizes that the Americans valued freedom above the other things.
It’s why he argues for American exceptionalism in opposition to Malthusian ideals in Europe.
As the US has taken on a more European living standards, we’ve seen the introduction of income tax and the massive outgrowth of socialism in the last 100 years.
Again - look at the names cited in Lambeth. They single out a specific American (and they aren’t dumb about this), who counters de Tocqueville’s argument the same way you do here - that a low birthrate is beneficial to the economy. No, no, it’s not.
No, that isn't what I'm saying at all. I was simply calling you out on the idea that contraception leads to socialism. I used South American Catholic countries with generally high birthrates as an example of your point simply being wrong.
In general you tend to find that wealth leads to lower birthrates. It's a fairly consistent phenomenon across the world. Free market countries tend to have an advantage in the wealth department, and their birthrates decline. Probably largely to due to all the choices in life available to wealthier people (travel, hobbies, etc). Sometimes you get a morally sick country like Russia that is growing simply because it had nowhere to go but up as it dumps socialism, yet still has declining birth rates.
The point is, contraception does not lead to socialism. The Catholic church is dominant in central and south American. The birth rates are generally high, and yet many of those countries have been absolutely ruined by socialist policies. Unfortunately, part of the problem is the Catholic church tends to be supportive of massive redistributive policies, the people often listen to the priests and bishops, and the countries fester in ruin because of those terrible ideas.
I ask you again, why is it so hard for many Catholics to admit their church's failings on economic issues?. Along with being wrong on immigration, gun control, etc. Is it really so hard to just admit the Pope and RCC leadership is wrong on the economic stuff? It's not like we can't agree the Catholic church does do some incredibly great works. I'm not some Catholic hater. I'm just endlessly irritated that the RCC takes these populist left positions that influence so many people and wind up doing so much damage, economically, throughout the world.