Tea at Trianon: Human Fertility is Collapsing

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, December 20, 2024

Human Fertility is Collapsing

From Global Guerillas:

Human fertility is collapsing. It’s a tangible collapse. You can see its impact in your personal life — on your kids, extended family, neighbors, and coworkers — and if you dig into the news flow, you can see its impact on the world.
Yet, except for an occasional outburst from Musk, nobody is focused on it. I suspect the reason this collapse isn’t the most critical issue of our time is that we wrongly assume it’s;
a temporary problem.
only a problem for wealthy countries.
solvable with the right mix of policies and cultural tweaks.
However, since the collapse isn’t going away and its effects continuously accumulate, we’ll eventually need to face it. So, let’s get started. (Read more.)