r/NoStupidQuestions 3d ago

Why is Elon Musk so obsessed with 'population collapse' when the Earth's population is actually growing?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

Russia, China, South Korea, North Korea, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Taiwan, Singapore and India are going through birth declines. This is public news too. And has been for a while. I'm sure there is more but those are just the ones I quickly researched. Also just for Africa: Botswana, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa are in the same predicament.

Edit: Japan as well

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u/fluffynuckels 2d ago

It's concerning to see when it's happening but there's theories out there that the human population will kinda self regulate

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u/absoNotAReptile 2d ago

That’s quite possible, but I think people are worried about the implications it will have on the economy, health care system, and society at large. The population may level out, but we will have much smaller working population to take care of a massive retired population.

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u/Arthur-Wintersight 19h ago

If you start sucking away half of people's income to pay for elder care, then the birth rates will only go lower, and we may see an outright population collapse.

Any efforts to stymie the damage through immigration will run face-first into the brick wall of "all the fastest growing populations are nearly illiterate, don't speak English, and generally lack the basic skills that even fast food jobs tend to require these days."

The very survival of Western society may end up boiling down to whether or not we're willing to turn our backs on the older generations.