Think Biblically Podcast: Economics and the Fertility Gap

[Thomas_muntzer]

am still thinking about this. The books of wisdom in the Bible need wisdom to understand them, they can't be treated like magic writing and isolated from context. There are many people in this world with lots of children who are not happy. I know a homeless couple that have children in foster care, just recently my wife saw them on the street again and they have another infant. I don't imagine Elon Musk's 9 or 10 children by a string of mothers qualifies him as happy and blessed.

We live in a society which is anti-natalist in many ways but I don't think the way out is to simply encourage births. The answer is to address the deeper distortions in society that convince people the best path is toward increasing narcissism, isolation and existentialism. We were created for purpose and a future, without that truth society will certainly run off the rails.

I wonder myself if from a christian perspective the case of the homeless couple you refer could be ethical they using anti conceptives

[R7ehr]

I think that part of the birth rate decline is due to wrong values held by a selfish and immoral culture.
I think another part of the birth rate decline is due to economics and economical pessimism. I read that if we were to match the housing affordability today with the same federal minimum wage of decades ago, the federal minimum wage would today need to be about $66 per hour.
Back then the birth rate was healthy too.

But hey, no such thing as there being a time in the past when America was great. It is 2025 with Trump, this is still the pinnacle, no looking back, right liberals? Isn’t it great to have a corrupt President? Can’t look back, thems the rules you made, even to 2022 or 2014. WhEn WaS aMeRiCa GrEaT?

[JohnH]

The economic pessimism comes from an anti-life culture that sees ni future for itself.