GonzoAtBarstow 99 points 3 days ago

8+ billion people on the planet and people complain about not enough people.

Ponzi schemes aren't sustainable.

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Fallibilist 10 points 3 days ago

Worry about population decline isn't about wanting more people. It's about wanting there to be enough working-age people to cover the retirement and medical payments of the ones no longer working. We know exactly how many 30-year-olds we'll have in 20 years and it's simply not enough. Something has to give and usually the first to go is the benefits for the people who most need them.

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666dollarfootlong 21 points 3 days ago

Or maybe the something that has to give is a minority class of people (the .1%) getting a few percent higher tax "burden"

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Fallibilist 2 points 3 days ago

I highly doubt that would be anywhere near enough even if the issue was only limited to the country with the highest number of ultra wealthy people which it isn't.

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UltraGiGaGigantic 4 points 3 days ago

usually the first to go is the benefits for the people who most need them.

Then this way of life is not worth saving.

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GonzoAtBarstow 4 points 3 days ago

That falls back to "ponzi schemes aren't sustainable"

It's broken.

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ageedizzle 1 point 3 days ago

The problem with calling it a ponzi scheme is that this would apply in all contexts, even in very basic economies without money. If you have a tribe of hunter gathers and suddenly they have a sharp decrease in their birth rate, they too would have a hard time taking care of their elderly/children.

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isleepinahammock 0 points 3 days ago

Why the obsession with only retirees? What matters is the dependency ratio.

The dependency ratio counts the total number of dependents, not just the retirees the eugenicists like to focus on. By the end of the century, globally we'll have a dependency ratio similar to the level it was in the mid-20th century.

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