Mainstream Awareness: 400 Million People Is SO Wrong
Train in India or DC Metro in 50 years?
Last week’s Newsweek article by Joel Kotkin, 400 Million People Can’t Be Wrong: Why America’s new baby boom bodes well for our future, praised America’s startlingly massive growth trajectory:
With a fertility rate 50 percent higher than Russia, Germany, or Japan, and well above that of China, Italy, Singapore, South Korea, and virtually all of Eastern Europe, the United States has become an outlier among its traditional competitors, all of whose populations are stagnant and seem destined to eventually decline.
Evidently if there are more of US than THEM, it must be a fantastic outlook for us. Now that we have moved beyond an arms race with the former USSR, it seems we have filled the void with — a baby race. This new drive to out-populate our global frienemies is not comforting.
While over-populated countries like India and China are finally curbing their unsustainable growth in an effort to clean up their polluted, carcinogenic environments, here we come with a solution that does little more than delay bankruptcy to that All-American ponzi scheme Social Security:
Between 2000 and 2050 the U.S. population aged 15 to 64—the key working and school-age group—will grow 42 percent, while the same group will decline by 10 percent in China, nearly 25 percent in Europe, and 44 percent in Japan. Unlike its rivals, America’s economic imperative will lie not in meeting the needs of the aging, but in providing job and income growth for our expanding workforce.
Oh, right, we currently have nearly 10% unemployment. The job climate is the worst for graduating seniors in decades. Aging infrastructure in major cities is crumbling as population growth in urban centers outpaces the ability to adapt. And Kotkin’s solution is MORE BABIES!
Long ago, a group of settlers had many offspring to help them tend to their land and maximize their crop. Eventually the settlement reached a critical mass. All the arable land was sewn, maximum crop yields were realized, and natural resources were abundant. Everyone worked. Everyone ate. Statues were even built in gratitude to the gods. Life was good. But then the settlement growth continued unchecked. More land and resources were unavailable, so competition for resources became fierce. The over-exploited land stopped providing, children starved, and the population plummeted until hardly anyone was left. All that remained were barren grasslands and giant stone heads.
Hopefully our country and the planet will avoid the same fate as Easter Island.
Alpha male jaw lines.
#15 Narcissistic Jackasses Who Wear Hands-Free Headsets Constantly
Through the 18th century, women donned decorative fans. In the 19th century men had their fanciful time pieces. And by the mid-late 20th century, men were augmenting their trophy women with gravity-defying silicone chest pillows. But few status symbols carry the same invasive, self-absorbed symbolism as the increasingly prevalent Bluetooth headset.
"Ever been pleasured by a man wearing his Bluetooth?"
There’s nothing like standing in line at the grocery store, when some gesticulating philistine pulls his cart up behind you, exclaiming, “I couldn’t find a soft avocado in the whole bin, what do you think I should do!?” while maintaining eye contact with you. After you give an incredulous double-take, and start to muster an awkward response, the stranger abruptly jars his head sideways revealing a shiny black parasite with a glowing blue eye latched to his ear. Cyborg? No, just some self-flagellating dork who has no consideration for those around him.
To be fair, one might think this behavior justified. How else does one pick fruit, push the cart, and consult the wife? But similar situations occur on main street, at the movie theater, and in the adjacent bathroom stall at the office. Is it really necessary to have 24/7 access to your cell via an earworm? Doubtful.
There is no justifiable reason for a person to have that plastic mass attached to his face while having his teeth drilled in the dentist chair. Most likely, folks like this just like the perceived adoration received from peers for their technological savvy, wherewithal and popularity. Realistically, these clip-on accessories look completely ridiculous and superfluous symbolizing self-absorption and obnoxiousness.
The same misguided people who constantly don Bluetooth headsets are the ones who would consider having children just for the “status symbol” effect. Instead of getting off the phone to read to their children, they’re more likely to tune-in the Bluetooth for some hands-free action while just flipping through Cat in the Hat. Until these individuals remove the light-emitting ear prostheses, rejoin society, and give some real consideration to the responsibilities and consequences that come with children – these jackasses need to stop reproducing.