I'm guessing a lot of commenters didn't actually read/listen to the entirety of this. Here's a summary:
- Globally, there's a drop in fertility rates
- The reasons for this are complicated, but the interview seems to conclude it's due to mindset among young people
- There's no reason this has to be disastrous
- However, in the US we're doing really poorly on most things that would make a shrinking native population workable (sensible immigration policy, stable social safety net, world-class education, etc.)
- Israel is an outlier in that it seems to be avoiding the fertility rate drop of industrialized nations
- The interviewers think American exceptionalism can win the day and either return us to higher fertility rates or figure out a way around it
Unfortunately, nowhere did I see them actually make a strong case that a significantly smaller population is a bad thing. The interview is two boomers.
Would they argue that America in the 1970s/1980s when they were having the time of their lives had too few people? They also gloss over any positive impacts of lower population, like housing and the environment. And finally, they seem kind of out of touch with the experience of young people - there's some reference to a few metrics at the end (they seem to think young people are
"afraid" or over-value autonomy), but I get the feeling these two people don't really understand why Millennials in particular are choosing fewer children.
- Globally, there's a drop in fertility rates
- The reasons for this are complicated, but the interview seems to conclude it's due to mindset among young people
- There's no reason this has to be disastrous
- However, in the US we're doing really poorly on most things that would make a shrinking native population workable (sensible immigration policy, stable social safety net, world-class education, etc.)
- Israel is an outlier in that it seems to be avoiding the fertility rate drop of industrialized nations
- The interviewers think American exceptionalism can win the day and either return us to higher fertility rates or figure out a way around it
Unfortunately, nowhere did I see them actually make a strong case that a significantly smaller population is a bad thing. The interview is two boomers. Would they argue that America in the 1970s/1980s when they were having the time of their lives had too few people? They also gloss over any positive impacts of lower population, like housing and the environment. And finally, they seem kind of out of touch with the experience of young people - there's some reference to a few metrics at the end (they seem to think young people are "afraid" or over-value autonomy), but I get the feeling these two people don't really understand why Millennials in particular are choosing fewer children.