Are Humans on the Road to Extinction?

My first cousin is a world renowned sociologist. A few years ago in a chic NY City restaurant, over a nice bottle of wine, he shared a concerning conclusion, “In the decade of 2010, the human population for the first time in our history is declining.” In the first book of the Bible, God plainly commands, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Well, we’re not multiplying any more. At least not at the same rate. Sorry God.

I was born in 1959, which is considered to be the end of the Baby Boomer generation. Baby Boomers, some theorize, is the greatest generation. I believe the reason is because of our parents instincts to multiply. That is have lots of kids.

Our societal governmental structures, such as Social Security and Medicare, assume a new generation of young people to pay for these programs. With the American reproduction rate in decline, these programs are now in decline. Worse yet, baby boomers, are living longer than ever, which is good for replacement rates, but worse for these social programs.

How did we get here? China is certainly to blame by their draconian mandate of one child per family. This is not too bad because the mandate can be undone, and it has. They are now up to two children per family. There is something else in play. It is not abortion. It is birth control. In the late 60s, birth control went into mass production, and it is the only feasible explanation on why family sizes have fallen dramatically in less than two generations.

Birth control is a choice, and we believe in choice. But we must take care or humans might be choosing extinction.