US Low Birthrate like many other western nations

I've been following some of these social trends closely the last year or 2. I think we are seeing a general dissatisfaction with society. People are dropping out and choosing not to participate in traditional social norms as a form of silent protest over the direction our countries are headed.

30 year low birthrate

The birthrate fell for nearly every group of women of reproductive age in the U.S. in 2017, reflecting a sharp drop that saw the fewest newborns since 1987, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is actually an alarming trend forming in several nations, mostly western nations. There are various reasons for this IMO one of the major drivers being economic but also I think we are seeing people not liking social interaction. I've remember the early 90's as a kid before the internet really took over when you had to interact with people with mass media was in everyone's face everyday and the world was a much different place. I think social media is another major factor in the general dissatisfaction with our modern social paradigm.

Rise of narcissism in the US

For the past three decades or a little more, researchers have been assessing both narcissism and empathy using questionnaires developed in the late 1970s.

Over the years, these questionnaires have been administered to many samples of college students, and analyses that bring all of the data together reveal that the average narcissism score has been steadily increasing and the average empathy score has been steadily decreasing ever since the questionnaires were developed [3.]

Aside from social media being a major factor here I think another problem is advertisers.

Fall of Rome

Before the collapse of the Roman Empire, the top 1% of its population controlled over 16% of its wealth. The Gini coefficient; which measures the level of income disparity in a society where 0 is perfectly equal and 1 is perfectly unequal, measured Rome at an incredibly high 0.43[1].

As many of you know these problems I'm talking about with narcissism, self aggrandizement, self gratification above anything else were major factor's leading to the fall of Rome.

Gini-coefficient

We are current at .48 on the gini-coefficient scale. This also is a contributing factor to the overall dissatisfaction of the members of our society.

Alchohol and drug use

Few could argue that addiction is an epidemic that afflicts the developed world. The U.S.A, long thought to be one of the most advanced nations on earth, shows drug and alcohol abuse statistics raising on a significant scale. According to reports, over 20 million people nationwide suffer from drug and alcohol abuse issues. Perhaps worse, the cost of treatment and incarceration run nearly $700 billion annually for taxpayers.

We have alarming drug and alcohol abuse issues in this country. Where I live there can be up to 24 OD's on a single Weekend and this is a somewhat smaller town. It couldn't be more obvious that the, "me and mine" mentality of the average American is leading to our garbage culture and low birthrates.

American's are some of the most selfish humans on the planet IMO. I've lived in immigrant communities where they work together more (not always) and they help each other and have closer families. Here in the states you turn 16-17 and your parents are looking to kick you out and your on your own with generally no help. Then you have little contact with any family and almost no support and this is an average experience as far as I'm concerned.

Many of you here have this mentality and it's poison to our nation and the future of this country and world. Although I will say there is plenty of people but what good is a society that on average produces people who find life so enjoyable they choose not to reproduce and would rather opt of most social norms.

a reply to: toysforadults

The me and mine attitude is more than an American issue, it's a western world issue. Interestingly third world people are much happier as they do not have the materialistic nature and have fantastic family bonds, big families that all work together for a common good, I don't need to explain much about lack of family values in the material world.

Eastern Europe has no such issue.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

Interestingly third world people are much happier as they do not have the materialistic nature and have fantastic family bonds, big families that all work together for a common good,

If that is so true why are all the African men are being pushed to go to Western Europe then for the common good to uh? and big happy families lol lol? yeah doubtful on that one.

a reply to: AtlasHawk

They are not, stop taking media at face value and look at the statistics for yourself, to start with there are 7 billion people in the world, now crunch the numbers as to how many are seeking asylum or migrating.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

I know from personal experience Latino families have stronger bonds (not all but a lot do). the me and mine attitude is kind of the main reason for most human suffering IMO. this is why many philosophies teach service such as the masons and Jesus and other philosophers/ potential god like people

they know that the key to a better world is less selfishness. where I'm at most people don't even talk to their families and if they do it's twice a year on thanksgiving or christmass and they drunk for half the time

it's really weird when you look at it from a strictly analytical perspective especially considering the last 10,000 years of human history and how we have had to survive in the dreaded communist communities

Drug and alcohol issues. Me and mine attitude. Garbage culture.

Sounds exactly like what’s waiting at the southern border right now.

At least it’ll help with the birthrate though.

a reply to: toysforadults

One major issue is that money when you have it enables people to be selfish, a stance that simply could not have worked when we were hunters and gatherers . Comfort and greed will indeed be the downfall of our current civilisation, and I suspect won't be the last time it happens.

a reply to: toysforadults

If a nation has a low birth rate and an aging population (who will retire and become an increasing unproductive load on the economy). I can think of no better way to support ongoing productivity than to import workers.

a reply to: chr0naut

“Workers” being the optimum word there. It looks like you agree with President Trump after all.
I mean, importing workers is kind of the whole point of legal immigration. Something the Trump administration has supported from day one.

As for ‘increasing unproductive loads on the economy’, yeah I wonder where we can get more of that from??

NOT being racist, being objective, but i wish the lower classes, and third world nations would slow down population growth.
if they slowed down, and first world nations slowed down, that is a LOT less resouces wasted going forward.

there is not going to be an end to human kind lmfao. but if we could get back to 4 billion just by CHOICE, no death, that would be awesome.

less people = higher wages.

My late grandmother, a Silent Gen'er, was absolutely positive that they (Silents) royally f'd up with the Boomers. They spoiled them as children, put them on pedestals, fostered a very narcissistic "screw you, I got mine" mentality, and was genuinely very sorry for it in elderly hindsight because in her view, it created a snowball effect where each successive generation after them was simply worse -- more spoiled, on a higher pedestal, more narcissistic, etc. The youngins today are the product of their parents, who are the product of theirs and so forth. What mom and dad know was passed on from their own.
At least grandma was wise enough to look back and try to take responsibility. Better late than never, I suppose.

If I'm to look at how my Boomer mother raised us objectively, it's a goddamn wonder in & of itself that we're not nearly as selfish, greedy & narcissistic as she is. IMO, how we turned out had much more to so with my dad's influence, who's a young end Silent Gen'er himself. Comparing the 2 generations, there's a distinct lack of simple grace within personal conduct. And I think that's what my grandmother was so embarrassed about. A self-centered narcissist isn't someone with much grace to behold.

originally posted by: dantanna
NOT being racist, being objective, but i wish the lower classes, and third world nations would slow down population growth.
if they slowed down, and first world nations slowed down, that is a LOT less resouces wasted going forward.

there is not going to be an end to human kind lmfao. but if we could get back to 4 billion just by CHOICE, no death, that would be awesome.

less people = higher wages.

Or we could learn to waste less resources, and relearn the value of the barter system.

I find it both sad and laughable that people think we must have currency to exist. We existed for a LONG TIME trading without it. I think when things come full circle for future generations, old fashioned trade/barter is going to be foremost again, with currency filling the minor gaps those don't always cover.

originally posted by: Breakthestreak
a reply to: chr0naut

“Workers” being the optimum word there. It looks like you agree with President Trump after all.
I mean, importing workers is kind of the whole point of legal immigration. Something the Trump administration has supported from day one.

As for ‘increasing unproductive loads on the economy’, yeah I wonder where we can get more of that from??

If Trump is such a good businessman, I can't understand why he doesn't just monetize immigration properly.

Cutting volume and speed of legal immigration = less potential for profitability.

Also, except for the Native Americans, the American population is almost entirely immigrants or their descendants. I'd also guess that people who would give up their lives and take a journey of thousands of miles, a lot of it on foot, have the true grit to be hard workers.

a reply to: chr0naut

That’s true.

But how has the President cut any volume or speed of legal immigration? Where did you hear that?

originally posted by: Breakthestreak
a reply to: chr0naut

That’s true.

But how has the President cut any volume or speed of legal immigration? Where did you hear that?

US Briefly Closes Major Border Crossing with Mexico

It could have been done at any time but it was done after Trump's executive order (8th November), the border was closed on the 19th Nov and reopened on the 20th Nov when the executive order was overturned. Of course the correlation is deniable but the sequence fits and does not fit well with the official story.

a reply to: Nyiah

What is a potato grower going to barter for when they need brain surgery?

a reply to: chr0naut

Wow! Is that it?

Did you know there’s a meaning behind the word ‘briefly’? And did you read the article you posted and understand the reasoning behind the ‘brief’ stoppage that the President has proposed? No I didn’t think so.

Trump is PRO immigration. He, and his party, and their supporters, WANT people to immigrate to the United States. Legally. To increase the workforce.

I’m sorry that cnn or Comedy Central have told you otherwise.

originally posted by: Chadwickus
a reply to: Nyiah

What is a potato grower going to barter for when they need brain surgery?

It should be painfully obvious in that scenario that a breakdown of society has occurred and technology lost.

originally posted by: chr0naut

originally posted by: Breakthestreak
a reply to: chr0naut

“Workers” being the optimum word there. It looks like you agree with President Trump after all.
I mean, importing workers is kind of the whole point of legal immigration. Something the Trump administration has supported from day one.

As for ‘increasing unproductive loads on the economy’, yeah I wonder where we can get more of that from??

If Trump is such a good businessman, I can't understand why he doesn't just monetize immigration properly.

Cutting volume and speed of legal immigration = less potential for profitability.

Also, except for the Native Americans, the American population is almost entirely immigrants or their descendants. I'd also guess that people who would give up their lives and take a journey of thousands of miles, a lot of it on foot, have the true grit to be hard workers.

And? Since when has the President or his supporters been anti-immigration?

Oh I see, you think illegal immigration is the same thing as immigration.

Careful there, your iq is showing.