An assistant professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the U.S. has said that the “clear solution” to Japan’s aging society is for “mass suicide and mass ‘seppuku’ (ritual disembowelment) of the elderly”.
We have the time and money but we don’t like kids. Most of the population decline is because more and more people realize they don’t need kids to be happy.
I think having kids as a retirement plan is pretty selfish. I would rather save money so that when I’m old I can afford proper assistance. This of course is not a valid option everywhere but where I live nursing homes are good and affordable and euthanasia is legal.
No, staffing will not be a problem. Those jobs are fairly easy to access (you only need some courses and certification), are not dangerous or highly stressful, and will not be replaced by AI or automation. Worst case scenario we will import nurses from developing countries. The only issue can be founding but in countries with stable social security retirements will cover most of the cost. If you’re living in country with weak social security you will be fucked and kids may be necessary.
No. This would have lots of weird impacts. In the countryside, a lot of employees are quite old. A lot also do childcare for their grandkids at least some of the time. A lot of farmers would be gone as well. There’s also a lot of paperwork that suddenly needs to be done grinding a lot of government to a halt. A lot of businesses as well since, from what I’ve seen form friends’ older relatives dying, a lot of people do NOT have their shit in order and Japan has lots of small businesses and sole proprietorships.
Depending upon the wording of the policies and suicide, life insurance companies might have big issues or families might have huge monetary issues. I guess we can pretend they don’t all die at once and clog up the whole morgue and funeral infrastructure which is a whole other thing.
The religious and political implications could be interesting. Bhuddist gravesites in Japan for family graves tend to be very expensive to buy and maintain.
I could actually keep going for a while, but the short version is that, at least in the short term, it would likely do more harm than good. This says nothing of the actual emotional impact on people.
Just asking out of curiosity, but if that occurred, would that actually solve the problem of population decline?
To be clear I’m not advocating for this, I’m just trying to understand the what’s going on.
Well it would free up a lot of resources that could be redirected to free child care.
but it seems more like people are being over worked and underpaid. They just can’t afford to spend time or money on kids
Grandparents are a major source of free childcare
My wife and I make decent money and could afford a kid, but we do not have the time.
We are both working over 40 hour weeks.
We have the time and money but we don’t like kids. Most of the population decline is because more and more people realize they don’t need kids to be happy.
My wife and I mainly worry about what will happen to us when we are very elderly.
I think having kids as a retirement plan is pretty selfish. I would rather save money so that when I’m old I can afford proper assistance. This of course is not a valid option everywhere but where I live nursing homes are good and affordable and euthanasia is legal.
I think the problem is that there might not be people to staff those nursing homes.
No, staffing will not be a problem. Those jobs are fairly easy to access (you only need some courses and certification), are not dangerous or highly stressful, and will not be replaced by AI or automation. Worst case scenario we will import nurses from developing countries. The only issue can be founding but in countries with stable social security retirements will cover most of the cost. If you’re living in country with weak social security you will be fucked and kids may be necessary.
No. This would have lots of weird impacts. In the countryside, a lot of employees are quite old. A lot also do childcare for their grandkids at least some of the time. A lot of farmers would be gone as well. There’s also a lot of paperwork that suddenly needs to be done grinding a lot of government to a halt. A lot of businesses as well since, from what I’ve seen form friends’ older relatives dying, a lot of people do NOT have their shit in order and Japan has lots of small businesses and sole proprietorships.
Depending upon the wording of the policies and suicide, life insurance companies might have big issues or families might have huge monetary issues. I guess we can pretend they don’t all die at once and clog up the whole morgue and funeral infrastructure which is a whole other thing.
The religious and political implications could be interesting. Bhuddist gravesites in Japan for family graves tend to be very expensive to buy and maintain.
I could actually keep going for a while, but the short version is that, at least in the short term, it would likely do more harm than good. This says nothing of the actual emotional impact on people.
Thanks, it’s seemed that his “solution” was off.