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A Tale of Two Countries

A Tale of Two Countries

Dec 19, 2023

Photo by Vlad Shapochnikov on Unsplash

What is a country to do when the birth rates go down to drastic levels?

What actually happens when not only the retired population far exceeds those of the current workforce, but the downward trend is set to repeat with each generation?

There has been a downward trend in birth rates being reported in multiple countries all around the globe.

For North Korea and China, it’s headed towards catastrophic.

First off, women do not feel like being broodmares for the state. They want to have a career and to establish themselves with their own financial security instead of being fully dependent on the income of a significant other. They’ve watched their parents struggle to make ends meet and have no wish to repeat the cycle.

Women want to travel and see the world instead of being stuck at home with a bunch of kids.

They want the opportunity to think their own thoughts and to look inward. Kinda hard to do that when you’ve got a bunch of kids screaming in your ears.

I want to focus on two authoritarian countries and point out their similarities instead of their differences.

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

In China, there was a “one-child policy” that lasted up until 2016. Think about that for a moment. The government decided in their infinite unwisdom that they would control the population through a one-child policy started back in the 1970s to combat possible overpopulation.

It’s a little too late.

Xi Jinping is attempting a U-turn while sailing on an aircraft carrier. They should have ended that policy decades ago, but here we are.

We should actively foster a new type of marriage and childbearing culture. It is necessary to strengthen guidance on young people’s perspectives on marriage, childbearing, and family. -Xi Jinping

So that’s it?

That’s your answer?

Just tell young people to start families and have children and they just magically snap to attention and do what you tell them?

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

Let’s hear how North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un plans on dealing with their birth rate crises.

Stopping the decline in birth rates and providing good childcare and education are all our family affairs that we should solve together with our mothers. -Kim Jong-Un

At least he referenced childcare. He has no plan to implement it and I highly doubt that North Korean women are comforted and encouraged to hear this.

All these two bumbling idiots have to offer is rhetoric. Not one word on how they are going to incentivize having more children.

No neonatal care.

No daycare.

No school lunches.

No food stamps.

No welfare.

Just go out and have a bunch of babies and it’s up to the parents to scramble and figure out how they are going to keep a roof over their head and food in their mouths.

Photo by Alexandru Zdrobău on Unsplash

Last I checked, women have to work as well. Who’s taking care of the kids? Are they magically going to care for themselves?

Also, we are living on the brink of war.

Let’s go down the list.

•Russia is at war with Ukraine and threatening Poland which is a threat to every NATO member.

•North Korea has become an arms dealer to Russia and also threatens nuclear war.

•Israeli and Palestinian conflict.

•China is threatening to take over Taiwan.

•Venezuela is threatening to take over Guyana.

I don’t know about, you but I’m thinking women in general are not very inclined to bring more children into this world.

Why would anyone want to have children under these conditions?

Thank you for reading🌺

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Further Reading:

New research helps explain why China's low birth rates are stuck

Spillover effects may be to blame | China

www.economist.com

China's fertility rate drops to record low 1.09 in 2022- state media

China's fertility rate is estimated to have dropped to a record low of 1.09 in 2022, the National Business Daily said on…

www.reuters.com

Why China Needs to Learn to Live With Its Low Fertility Rate

China's efforts to lift birth rates, experts say, may be futile. Instead, authorities should focus on boosting…

time.com

North Korea's Kim Jong Un calls for action on falling birthrates

The U.N. estimates that the average number of children being born to a woman in North Korea stands at 1.8, amid an…

www.nbcnews.com

North Korea's Kim calls for action on falling birth rates

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for efforts to tackle the isolated country's falling birth rates, describing…

www.reuters.com


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