The Demographic Winter

Yesterday I had a conversation with two young mothers who desired large families, but felt sheepish about it. It's not the thing to do, anymore. I shared a few facts about the world's population trends with them and they were utterly amazed. I am amazed how folks are still making life decisions based on the media scare tactics of a generation ago. Last night, I read a wonderful speech that Don Feder presented in Riga, Latvia that explained the current situation very succinctly. Here is his assessment of Russia's approaching demographic winter:

This catastrophe in the making can be most clearly seen in Russia. What
Lenin, Stalin and Hitler failed to accomplish, the Russian people are doing
to themselves. You might call it auto-genocide.

In Russia, the fertility rate is 1.17 (down from 2.4 in 1990, a decline
of over 50%). Russia is losing three-quarters of a million people a year.
Its current population of 145 million is expected to be reduced by a third
by 2050. In Russia today, almost as many children are aborted as are born
alive (1.5 million to 1.6 million).

The Russian people occupy 17 million sq. km, the largest land mass on
earth. By comparison, the United States has 9.6 million sq. km. and a
population of 303 million -- in other words, a little less than half of
Russia's land mass and more than twice its population.

Where will the Russia of 2050 find the soldiers to guard its frontiers?
Where will it find the workers to operate its factories and mines, to grow
its crops and run its hospitals and schools?

Read the whole thing. If you still believe what you were taught in school about overpopulation, you'll be shocked.

Of course, the Word of God explained this long ago:

In a multitude of people is a king’s honor,

But in the lack of people is the downfall of a prince.

H/T Teresa Wirtz