"However, Musk is far from an isolated voice within the far right and among the world's billionaires. Low birthrates are not a mystery. They are not the result of moral decay, declining ambition or an excess of woke politics, but rather the predictable outcome of an economic system in which people are paid too little, work too much and are told to feel personally responsible for structural failures engineered far above their heads."
"The same billionaires and CEOs who lament demographic decline also complain that people do not buy locally, that European industries are losing ground, and that the West is becoming economically fragile, with some even calling for bans on Chinese online platforms such as Temu or Shein. And yet, when it comes to solutions, they reliably converge on the same prescriptions: longer working hours, wage restraint, mass layoffs and deregulation."
Low birthrates are a predictable outcome of an economic system where people are paid too little, work too much, and shoulder blame for structural failures. Wealthy elites and CEOs who warn about demographic decline often promote longer hours, wage restraint, mass layoffs and deregulation as remedies. Real wages across much of Europe have stagnated or fallen while housing, energy, food and childcare costs have risen. The EU's average fertility rate has fallen to around 1.4 children per woman. For millions of households, income no longer enables future planning but forces constant damage control. Better wages alone will not reverse the trend if living costs keep rising.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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