Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder2.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Paul S Person Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Re: The Roads Must Roll -- In Japan, at least Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 09:10:01 -0800 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 91 Message-ID: References: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Injection-Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2024 18:10:04 +0100 (CET) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="27df2b89a8fd526837d93f319225a2f4"; logging-data="1792851"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+hx5Owt9e9pOiYU+DNhELBG6F8oQDfWcI=" User-Agent: ForteAgent/8.00.32.1272 Cancel-Lock: sha1:dJ2hsVByNh0/Otx4seeeEE7GcRY= Bytes: 4367 On Mon, 11 Nov 2024 20:51:13 -0500, Cryptoengineer wrote: >On 11/11/2024 5:22 PM, Bobbie Sellers wrote: >> On 11/11/24 09:43, Dimensional Traveler wrote: >>> On 11/10/2024 9:58 AM, Ted Nolan wrote: >>>> Noted by Sarah Hoyt with the blurb: >>>> =A0=A0 IT'S HEINLEIN'S WORLD. WE JUST LIVE IN IT. >>>> >>>> = https://www.newser.com/story/359125/japan-has-a-trucker-shortage-its-=20 >>>> solution-is-novel.html >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> =A0=A0=A0=A0Japan Has a Trucker Shortage. Its Solution Is Novel >>>> >>>> =A0=A0=A0=A0Nation plans to build a giant 'conveyor belt road' = connecting >>>> =A0=A0=A0=A0Tokyo and Osaka >>>> =A0=A0=A0=A0By John Johnson,=A0 Newser Staff >>>> >>> It isn't just a shortage of truck drivers, Japan is undergoing a slow= =20 >>> motion population implosion.=A0 The age demographic that would be = having=20 >>> children is basically refusing to. >>> >>=20 >> =A0=A0=A0=A0That is because the world they live in is very demanding = of youth=20 >> and workers. Which is why so many manga are set in "Other Worlds" >> The Japanese governments have not yet come up with a plan that makes >> having babies a easy thing especially for the career types. Despite >> legal equality a lot of the former regimes are still in power and >> intensely pro-male and wealth in there law making. > >The coming demographic collapse is one of the things I worry about. >Wanting a smaller population is one thing, but we're headed there >in a way that's going to be very disrupting. > >Up until the mid-20th century, children coming along was >pretty automatically if a woman lived with a man. They cohabited >out of love, and/or economic necessity. It was pretty >difficult for a woman to avoid doing so. > >Now, being childless is a much more attainable option, and >many women are making that choice. > >Our current society makes parenthood immensely costly to >parents, and especially mothers, in both income and >lifestyle restrictions. > >In the US at the moment, it's also made it very >difficult for young people to find housing, jobs, >and income sufficient to make starting a family >a reasonable choice. > >Should something be done? I think so, others may differ. What can and should be done is to take advantage of immigration and repopulate the country. We have /long since/ passed the point where our economy can be run without migrant labor. And I'm not talking about techies. I'm talking about /laborers/. You know, the ones Trump is going to deport to ... somewhere. He hasn't quite reached the point of finding out where he can send them. The Texas/Florida solution was entirely in-USA; it won't work outside the USA. >Clearly, coercing people to have kids is utterly >unacceptable. > >But, if 'mother' was made a viable, respected, and >attractive career choice, maybe things could be >reversed - it would require massive subsidies, >essentially paying people for life if they have >sufficient offspring. Sounds anti-MAGA to me. Not the "encouraging motherhood" part. The "paying gummint money" part. >Is there any SF dealing with this? --=20 "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino, Who evil spoke of everyone but God, Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"