Degrowth

Hard disagree.

This video (from kurzgesagt) completely changed my perspective: https://youtu.be/Ufmu1WD2TSk

For this exact reason cited in the OP article.

But the bigger problem with Walsh’s argument is that it only makes sense if you care about the quantity of human life more than the quality of human life.

The video illustrates it better than I can, but basically, underpopulation is societally destabilizing and makes people miserable. It reduces quality of life.

It works if we live in a utopian future where people are living longer working lives, staying young longer, automation is reducing job loads, governments are smart, immigration is free and open, global warming isn’t a looming crisis, AI will solve all sorts of problems…

But we don’t.

In the near term, we need a big mass of young people to take care of retired people, otherwise those young people are utterly miserable because they have to work their butts off to support a huge retired population. Again, you can wave your hands and say “automation! immigration! reduced hours!” but that fantasy is clearly not where the world is headed to. Technology is much closer to addressing overpopulation issues, and then we can worry about plateauing birthrates once we got robot butlers taking care of our elders and making their stuff.

The US hasn’t dealt with this because we are privileged enough to have a massive influx of immigrants (who skew young), but we are royally screwing that up.

I despise how this article tries to write it off as an ideological belief, like you’re a Musk loving fool for thinking this.

…I realize I’m probably posting this in the wrong sub. And I’d love to be wrong, but that article is not selling it for me.