I try not to be a judgmental person, but if the societal portrait given here is accurate, Japan's got some major social and demographic problems that are going to non-trivial to deal with.
Why have young people in Japan stopped having sex?
What happens to a country when its young people stop having sex? Japan is finding out… Abigail Haworth investigates
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Why, in a world of 9 billion people are folks so freaked out by population decline? We don't need more bodies, definitely not children of self absorbed types who don't naturally appreciate human bonds. Can you imagine what sort of sad children they would raise?
Japan's got problems? I read nothing in this story that I don't see everywhere else… just in smaller degrees. Perhaps Japan exacerbates it with a chauvinistic culture, perhaps they are leading the pack, but they are not uniquely afflicted.
I think some population decline is not a bad thing — but Japan's drop is scary enough that it leads to the islands going extinct over the long term if the trend isn't fixed. To give an example, in 2012, Japanese stores old more senior-citizen incontinence pants than it did baby diapers for the first time.
I think some population decline is not a bad thing — but Japan's drop is scary enough that it leads to the islands going extinct over the long term if the trend isn't fixed. To give an example, in 2012, Japanese stores old more senior-citizen incontinence pants than it did baby diapers for the first time.
+Jason Nunnelley A broad population decline would be a good thing. A significant population decline in a single country is bound to be disruptive, esp. for that country.
On a positive note, their declining workforce is pushing them to the innovation forefront in robotics.
If anyone could use a population decline it's Japan.
+Jason Nunnelley Japan doesn't even get close to the top ten in population density, just manages tenth in overall population, and is in pleasant company at 15th for "quality of life".
Trust me Al, they're not going to run out any time soon. Neither is anyone else. If the world's population were cut in half over the next generation, we'd be fine (better off if we're not leaving this rock any time soon).
Cutting the world's population in half would be awesome
It's not just an issue of "less people" in Japan. It's also a serious issue of societal breakdown, where socialization between the sexes is deteriorating. This doesn't just affect How Many People Are Fucking And Making Babies, it also affects basic day-to-day functioning. If half the population is getting to the point where they can't deal with the other half (and vice versa) on a day-to-day basis, that's a serious issue regarding basic societal functioning.
+Jason Nunnelley I said nothing about them "running out". I was pointing out that Japan is hardly first on the list of countries that could, as you put it, "use a population decline".
Cutting the world's population in half would be terribly disruptive. It would absolutely have some positive effects, and from a sustainability standpoint is definitely a net improvement. But it would not be without pain and problems.
OK, Al. Sorry. EVERY industrial nation could use a population decrease. We're polluting more than we can clean up, automation makes manufacturing and production (even food) very non-human intense. We've got plenty of people.
Dropping non-developed nation's populations could be rough on the populations. But, in most cases there's enough stress on resources that dropping population would be more net positive than net negative. I'm just not losing any sleep over Japan's move to negative population growth.