Andrew Sage

And of course, the actual drivers of ecological collapse are not poor families in India or Africa having too many kids.

It's the overconsumption of the global north.

You know, if you actually wanted to reduce consumption, reduce the impact of population on the planet, are you going to start with fewer people or are you going to start with fewer billionaires flying private jets?

You know?

It's not about the number of people, the headcount.

It's about the lifestyles and the systems that support those lifestyles.

You know, blaming population is a very cheap, simplistic, and cowardly get-out-of-jail-free card for the rich minority that drive this systemic crisis.

The thing about this, obviously, is that if you believe that you need to reduce the human population, that it's your obligation to go first.

Yes, but we are going to talk about those types of people in the next episode.

But, you know, speaking of the population, I think there's nowadays at least an opposite concern that is dominating the headlines.

You know, in wealthier, more developed countries, fertility tends to be lower.

And that's tied to things like better education, more women working, urban living, greater choices, greater access to contraception, etc.

But in less developed countries, fertility is usually higher because children are often seen as both helping hands and future caregivers, and education and access to birth control are more limited.

But the global fertility rate is now steadily dropping due to that increase in development, greater access to birth control, greater education and women's rights.

And there's a fear nowadays that there won't be enough people to support the system as it has been built.

Remember, capitalism is predicated on endless growth.

When its population starts to decline, naturally, everything that it's building towards in terms of

The amount of consumers, the amount of infrastructure, the amount of workers, those are not going to be there anymore, especially as more and more people end up dipping out of the workforce as they age.

So in 2023, the global average had dropped to just 2.3 children per woman, which is less than half of what it was 60 years ago.

According to the United Nations, fertility will keep falling throughout the century.