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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 3, 2023

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While the existence of depopulation goals is so well documented that it’s not a conspiracy theory anymore

you've got to explain rather than just asserting its true.

on its face, this doesn't seem to make much sense to me: upper class would likely be quite averse to a shrinking population (this is why they are also broadly in favor of immigration). a shrinking population base can more easily demand higher wages on the basis that there are few able to perform their job. this is why you see such people like Elon Musk decrying the so-called "population crisis," with a smaller population basis, it can be harder to exert control in some scenarios (specifically for skilled labor).

you have two not necessarily competing "solutions" to this, Republicans will tend to call for banning of abortion and Democrats will tend to call for a very uh... liberal immigration.

i'd also argue that the type of low-skill worker is where depopulation would be least prevalent, why pay a living wage when you can pay illegal immigrants much less (and this wage gap has been documented1) for the same amount of work as a legal immigrant or a native-born.


1: See page 10 of the link. It seems to be relatively difficult to find strict numbers on like average wages, but it's likely I didn't look hard enough. Regardless, programs like E-Verify here in the United States tend to keep illegal immigrants out of most skilled labor, the hearsay seems reliable enough (I guess as much as it can be).

you've got to explain rather than just asserting its true.

I mean, just look at the history of the eugenics movement, and what happened to it (spoiler alert: they did not go away in shame). Various iterations of "sustainable growth" are explicitly on the agenda on every world-spanning establishment organization from the UN to the WEF, and has been for decades. Some countries like China and India went to quite extreme lengths to lower their population growth.

upper class would likely be quite averse to a shrinking population (this is why they are also broadly in favor of immigration)

...

a shrinking population base can more easily demand higher wages on the basis that there are few able to perform their job.

That's the beauty of it: if you successfully decrease the natives' fertility, you can then use it as an excuse to increase immigration. By the second generation the immigrants from the fertile countries you're importing will turn into the same sort of hedonist-nihilist low fertility bots westerners have already become. Just keep marching fresh immigrants into the meat-grinder, and you have the best of both worlds - decreasing population, and a steady supply of low wage workers.

his is why you see such people like Elon Musk decrying the so-called "population crisis,"

Except Elon Musk is now a "far-right extremist", and for every Musk I can find you 10 Rockefellers, Ehrliches, Huxleys, Strongs and Ghandis.

Some countries like China and India went to quite extreme lengths to lower their population growth.

sure i'll give you China and India, but outside of that I still find the argument that this is happening on a mass scale outside of these 2 exceptions to be lacking and without merit

That's the beauty of it: if you successfully decrease the natives' fertility, you can then use it as an excuse to increase immigration. By the second generation the immigrants from the fertile countries you're importing will turn into the same sort of hedonist-nihilist low fertility bots westerners have already become.

as ironically nihilistic as this comment is, it seems again a extremely poor choice. why not just do both? you can get unchecked immigration with a rising population, although it's admittedly not very stable at high rates of both, and also lock people into bitter political rivalries

Except Elon Musk is now a "far-right extremist"

being far right or whatever political philosophy you say he is does not exempt him from his primary motivation: wealth accumulation. his concern is a poor theatre. he is one of the richest men in the world, he is going to advocate policies that are going to be in his interest, while putting on a poorly done kayfabe of concern for humanity or whatever.

sure i'll give you China and India, but outside of that I still find the argument that this is happening on a mass scale outside of these 2 exceptions to be lacking and without merit

The cases if China, and India are undeniable, my claim is that the implementation in the West is a lot more subtle, so you're not going to see a smoking gun like this, but the the fact that the world elites were explicitly debating depopulation as a goal is also pretty much undeniable.

as ironically nihilistic as this comment is

Wait... how was it nihilistic?

it seems again a extremely poor choice. why not just do both?

Because they don't want to? If their goal is to depopulate while maintaining their wealth, why would they want to increase population?

his concern is a poor theatre

On this we agree. Though I don't think it's so much advocating for policies in his interest, as pandering to an internet tribe so the tribe will circle the wagons around him.