It's funny how both the "left" and the "right" love higher birth rates (they sell it as noble worries but it's usually for furthering their cause) when it doesn't make sense anymore in modern societies.
There are too many people on the planet already, and most of them don't have a good quality of life. And more importantly, there isn't a way of significantly improving it (with today's technology and social/ethics understanding)
I feel the reaction many people have about population decline in NA and EU is understandable (one may or may not share the concern though, that's personal): your tribe is making less children, the others do no seem to care. And they will replace your tribe in the future if you don't make children, it's a game of numbers in the end.
NA and EU count very little in the great scheme of things from a population perspective [1] anyway - there are 5+ billion people in Asia and Africa (many in places that will be devastated by global warming), and those people aren't going to stop making babies any time soon. Are we going to force them to stop? How?
Yes, there is reason to worry about decline and population replacement, at the same time, numbers are not all there is (especially when people are unhappy).
> most of them don't have a good quality of life
What does that even mean? Are you implying most of “them” (whatever that might be) are lives not worth living thus “we” should put them out of their misery?
> And more importantly, there isn't a way of significantly improving it (with today's technology and social/ethics understanding)
Sources? Read Factfulness; you’ll be surprised at just how far of reality your view is!
There are too many people on the planet already, and most of them don't have a good quality of life. And more importantly, there isn't a way of significantly improving it (with today's technology and social/ethics understanding)