The butterfly effect

It’s true that the so-called developed nations are experiencing declining birthrates.  The reasons are, for the most part, economic, although not just in the sense that our money is worth less and less every day, but also because people are choosing to live child-free in order to live more in the moment, more care-free, with the liberty to do whatever, whenever they wish. Of course, everyone is free to live their lives as they see fit, but their lifestyle choices are affecting the big picture.  The system counts on a steady replenishment of the workforce, that works and produces and pays taxes.  

W ithout our contribution, there would be no money for politicians to play with.  They don’t bring it up much, but without us, they would all flounder.  Make no mistake, as I’ve mentioned time and time again, we hold the power, we just don’t seem to warm up to the idea very well, mainly due to the fact that those in charge don’t seem to talk about it, (the issue not being in their best interest).  Being a system where consumption is at the top of the list, corporations aren’t necessarily hurting yet, but you can bet that they are very concerned over population decline.  This concern is solely for the fact that they need to produce more and more, in order try and maintain profit growth, and a declining and ageing population won’t keep the boat afloat in the long term, no matter how many ways they can come up with, to separate us from our wages.  They require fresh batches of little consumers in order to keep the shareholders at bay.  

There are also moral and philosophical consequences to our declining instinct to procreate; Like every other animal on Earth, we are designed to carry on the line from which we come.  Breaking it may end up ending family lines that go back countless generations.  Without offspring, our own existence will be quickly forgotten, everything we worked and lived for is just erased, because we have no one to carry our legacy, no matter how humble.  As a parent myself, I know how much I’ve learned, helping to raise my kids alongside my wife.  The level of consciousness one reaches is one that can only be attained through parenthood.  The problem is that today’s younger generations tend to be looking at parenting as a possibility only once they’ve achieved certain personal goals, whereas with older generations, having children was one of those goals.  But times have changed, people have become more in tune with themselves and their wants and needs, although I would like to remind everyone to examine those well, making sure that they are not just ideas planted in their heads by a world obsessed with instant, short-term gratification.  

Economically poorer populations tend to still be having several children.  Obviously, not being too interested in birth control is one of the reasons, but they’re also not consumers, such as us.  We are convinced that because we have such a high level of buying power relative to them, that we live better, but I believe that we’ve been duped into thinking along those lines.  It’s those extremes again, we don’t seem to want a balance of things, it’s all about more and more.  But we’ve been fed this line of thought all our lives, because we need to keep buying, so they can keep making, and charging us more and more for it, so they can keep growing.  That’s it, in a nutshell, so let’s maybe not buy so much, so we can invest in bringing up little human beings.  These human beings are practically guaranteed to bring joy and fulfilment into your lives, and they are a necessary part of your development.  I know that mine is only one argument from one side, but it’s an argument that has stood the test of time.

Fiquem bem,

Raul Freitas/MS