Opinion Elon musk isn't happy about declining birth rate

[William Huggins]

He may not need them directly but someone out there has to drive his cars for the dollars to trickle, no?

Yeah, because everyone on slave wages drives an expensive electric car...... They might be part of the chain in somewhere like Africa or China.......

 

[Possum Jenkins]

It has little to do with benefits, education and fertility are just inversely proportional. People who have completed higher levels of education have lower birthrates than those with lower education. On a macro level, countries with higher degrees of education per capita yield lower (and often sub-replacement) birthrates.

Aaaaand we have a winner. Good post.

I'd only add that it's not a rich country-only phenomenon. Most middle and even some low-income countries are at or below replacement level.

2.1-2.3 is replacement level, btw.

Only the medium blue and dark blue countries are growing rapidly. And there's really not that many of them.

 

[Stoic1]

how about instead of giving money to charity, he (and other billionaires like him) pay assload of taxes? do you really care if Elon has 300 billion on his account, or 5 billion? These motherfuckers are hoarding wealth for themselves and giving peanuts back to the community. No wonder infrastructure, healthcare is crumbling while workers rights are eroding

and his donations to charity are probably nothing more than elaborate tax evasions - but I do wonder what an "assload" of money is, so please do give some links to his donations so we can read more about them

Because the government is the LEAST efficient mechanism for almost everything. Taxes aren't the solution to your problems. Quit thinking the "government" is going to solve the problems it creates.

 

[HereticBD]

Because the government is the LEAST efficient mechanism for almost everything. Taxes aren't the solution to your problems. Quit thinking the "government" is going to solve the problems it creates.

I love the idea that the most irresponsible and corrupt entity in the world, is gonna somehow be less irresponsible and corrupt if you give them even more money.

The government takes in plenty of money in taxes as it is. They can barely fill a fuckin' pothole, before it starts swallowing up little children. Oh', but they're going to invest it to make your life easier, because they work for the people! Yeah, sure.

 

[Why did you]

There's enough people in the world, I'm not gonna complain about this.

8bil people standing near each other would fit in an area aprox slightly bigger than new york

 

[Bojka]

Aaaaand we have a winner. Good post.

I'd only add that it's not a rich country-only phenomenon. Most middle and even some low-income countries are at or below replacement level.

2.1-2.3 is replacement level, btw.

Only the medium blue and dark blue countries are growing rapidly. And there's really not that many of them.

It's mostly caused by women being educated and working. They gain independence and put off having kids longer. Often to the point that they can't have or decide they dont want them.

In the west, poor and rich people have a bit more kids than middle income, but the relationship is pretty flat.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

8bil people standing near each other would fit in an area aprox slightly bigger than new york

And?

 

[LeonardoBjj]

I think the real question we should be asking ourselves is whether we should continue as a society to accept the „growth at all cost“ paradigm as state religion.

we must understand that the Consumption part of GDP is like 50-60% and the most of Government spendings ends up being spent for consumers, so that between 2/3 or 3/4 of GDP growth is attributable to consumers in developed democracies.

And population growth is the main driver of that consumption. It‘s not hard to understand why our policy makers freak out about population decline and why they keep on importing people, mostnof which end up in big cities anyways.

In the end, the neo-liberal world order doesn‘t factor in overpopulation in economicly strong areas, crime and wealth inequalties, just as long as we have growth and corporations are happy.

If you think that this shit is going to end any time ever I have bad news, it won‘t. Even if one country was going to say we are going to tax the super wealthy and redistribute the value added created by technology, thus not needing immigration and being happy with a slightly declining population, not only would the progressists within that country sabotage the idea from within (because progressists are always manipulated by capital), but then international competition would kill the countries that derail from the neoliberal docta.

We just need to accept that capitalism has peaked and that it‘s going to suck for society a little more every year.

- You're right. We live in a world with limited ressources.

 

[Jacket time]

 

[Siver!]

I personally feel Musk doesn't have enough money, and should be given even more so he can lead the world forward given he is, err, like, rich, and therefore brilliant.

Or some capitalist brain rot.

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

He’s got nothing to worry about. With a body like this he just has to turn on the jets and he can personally take care of it no problem.

 

[Makani]

Looking around the world where they're breeding like rabbits, where their dollar is worth .03 cents American, I don't know if I buy the poverty reasoning for this decline. Hell, even in Western nations, poor people are popping out six or seven kids just for the benefits. This seems like a middle/upper class thing in the west.

It's not poverty in the west, it's uncertainty, which often go hand in hand. Will my job exist in 5 years, will bread cost 10 dollars a loaf, will we be at war? And yes, some selfishness, though some of that is a function of both partners working 40 hours work weeks and still not getting ahead. We built our economy to strain its members, and it has. Elon Musk is the last person who should be talking about this though, dude is a dogshit father.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

It's mostly caused by women being educated and working. They gain independence and put off having kids longer. Often to the point that they can't have or decide they dont want them.

In the west, poor and rich people have a bit more kids than middle income, but the relationship is pretty flat.

Yeah, it's a combination of wealth and gender equality.

The Muslim world is certainly very patriarchal but the majority of the Middle East is in light blue, meaning they're only slightly above replacement level. Iran and Turkey (and I think Tunisia) are actually below replacement!

Meanwhile, dirt-poor Afghanistan and Pakistan are both in darker blue.

Sub-Saharan Africa is mostly in darker blue with the exception of relatively wealthy South Africa.

 

[HereticBD]

It's not poverty in the west, it's uncertainty, which often go hand in hand.

Yeah, but there's GRAND "uncertainty" around the world, that doesn't even compare. Like, a lot of their "uncertainty" is "Will I be killed next week in this never ending conflict over beans?", and not "Does my job give me enough income to live comfortably with children in this relative paradise?"

Our "uncertainty" is more of a privilege of an advanced society. It's why our "advanced society" is gonna think it's way into extinction.

Will my job exist in 5 years, will bread cost 10 dollars a loaf, will we be at war? And yes, some selfishness, though some of that is a function of both partners working 40 hours work weeks and still not getting ahead. We built our economy to strain its members, and it has. Elon Musk is the last person who should be talking about this though, dude is a dogshit father.

Maybe he is by our traditional standards, but again, the ability to judge such a man is a privilege. Dude's a trillionaire, and at the very least, his kids will grow up quite comfortably and not want for anything for their entire lives. He's a better father than some dude having kids in the middle of a poverty stricken warzone, where the best possible future for their kids is soldier or prostitute.

 

[Koro_11]

This piece of... is part of the problem. Him and likes like him. Rich fortunes reaches obscene numbers while poverty and homelessnes sky rockets. Goes hand in hand I suppose.

So you think that him having more somehow leads to you having less?

 

[ermac88]

Poor guy. On track to make trillions, while everyday people can’t cover basic expenses and face AI-driven job losses. How dare they choose not to have children.

Guy does take care of his own kids

billionaire deadbeat dad.

Crazy fucking position to take when you dont even take care of your kids!

 

[Yoricks Wisdom]

I think he's up to around 100 so far.

 

[Bob Gray]

Not saying its not impactful, but his net worth is about $500 Billion... so 1/4 billion is only 0.0005% of his net worth.

In terms of generosity that would be equal to someone with a net worth of $100K giving $50 to charity.

Yeah, but who gives to charity based on their net worth? That includes things like the house you own, the car you drive, and in Elons case, the companies he owns. His net worth isnt the amount of cash he has in his bank account.

 

[Why did you]

And?

i wanted to share that cool info
quantity doesn't mean quality plus there are other factors to consider .
but so far , we have enough space for us small beings on this small planet , enough resources,
eg the Sun releases 10k times more energy in one second than humans have used in their entire existence
Thats something Musk,Trump , Put in , EU, Bezoss, or others from that team will never say, and it's important to recognize that.
feeling of not having enough while you have 100bil $ is also something to look into, tesla coil knows that , but thats not the topic to discuss on jre
So , in a way I agree with you that there's enough people in the world atm lol

 

[Hellowhosthat]

i wanted to share that cool info
quantity doesn't mean quality plus there are other factors to consider .
but so far , we have enough space for us small beings on this small planet , enough resources,
eg the Sun releases 10k times more energy in one second than humans have used in their entire existence
Thats something Musk,Trump , Put in , EU, Bezoss, or others from that team will never say, and it's important to recognize that.
feeling of not having enough while you have 100bil $ is also something to look into, tesla coil knows that , but thats not the topic to discuss on jre
So , in a way I agree with you that there's enough people in the world atm lol

We'd have enough room if we lived like we did 1000 years ago I think but with the current amount each person consumes there's just not enough resources on the planet.