Re: "The Only Thing They Learn" -- does anyone else find it irritating?

"Q" == Quadibloc <jsavard@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

Q> But while my statement above might indeed stop being true for a
Q> little while - _after_ we establish colonies in space to mine the
Q> volatiles of the Kuiper Belt and so on - it appears to still be
Q> true today. Only recently there were headlines about the price of
Q> rice going up.

To quote P. J. O'Rourke, from memory: Droughts are natural disasters.
Famines are entirely man-made.

Q> It's true that Europe currently has a rather low birth rate, but
Q> that is presumably a temporary aberration, brought about by
Q> overcrowding or economic difficulties.

No, Europe has a low birth rate because people have the wit to look
around and say, "Hm, children are expensive and a lot of work to raise.
Guess I'll put on a condom/use the pill/get my tubes tied/get a
vasectomy." The low birth rate is brought about by three things: (a)
reliable, safe, socially acceptable birth control; (b) women empowered
enough to insist on birth control, refuse sex, or have abortions; and
(c) industrialization and a social safety net, or the illusion of one,
that makes having lots of children unnecessary for unpaid labor or for
support in one's old age.

Charlton


--
Charlton Wilbur
cwilbur@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.