Not just money, but goods. The funny thing is: What might be extortionate wages for you would support a family of eight here. But with the standards of living starting to normalize towards the middle (Chinese middle class and minimum wage are both growing), you'll see less and less offshore manufacturing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arragonis
I agree with most of your post, but to expand - "they" have these kids for 2 reasons :
1. A lot of them die when young (so have more to ensure some survive)
2. They support their parents (have more so you have an easier retirement)
Sort out 1 by better healthcare. Sort out 2 by better pension provision, either by individual and private savings and investment or state provided. Sort those out and the population level stabilises.
How to do those things remains a challenge, notably not addressed here - development means growth, growth needs energy.
So the fundamental here is energy. Expensive, unreliable and unsustainable renewables don't cut it. Deal with that  |
1. Is almost a non-issue now. Nowadays, early death is in your sixties. People can live into their seventies and eighties... and once past eighty, you become a big problem for government pension and retirement services.
2. Problem for many family-oriented countries transitioning to Western-style life... If I recall, geriatric suicides are now a big thing in Korea because the traditional family support system has deteriorated.
We can do renewables, but we have to be prepared for an energy poor lifestyle as opposed to the current one in which we waste huge amounts of energy without a second thought.