Falling Birthrates as Tribal Panic

• Another examination of the roots of falling birthrates, a global reality; I see the concern about it as tribal panic;
• Briefly noted: make gun violence great again!; more about the latest GOP scare tactic; more about those who spread false history; how claims of voting by non-citizens may be evidence of clinical paranoia; and how MAGA cares about nothing unless it’s about America and winning.

So what is this about? Anything new here? This issue has been discussed before.

Slate, Jill Filipovic, yesterday: We Need More Good Men, subtitled: Conservatives often lay the blame for declining fertility at women’s feet. They’re wrong.

The writer begins with a personal anecdote about her decision, married and 39 and living in a small upstate New York town, not to have a child.

As Republicans and Democrats alike grapple with declining birth rates and the economic impacts of an aging population, the consensus seems to be that people should have more babies. The right has generally coalesced around a strategy of blaming, shaming, and bullying: blaming (white) women for not marrying or reproducing; shaming women whose lives don’t follow a traditional path; bullying young women into traditionalism with threats that they will wind up, per Vice President J.D. Vance, as childless cat ladies whose lives lack purpose and have no investment in the nation or its future. Democrats have done better in terms of talking about paid parental leave and universal healthcare, but at the end of the day, they’ve barely budged the policy needle. The policy laundry list pushed by Democrats and progressives is no doubt the right way forward. But leaders on both sides of the political aisle need to start thinking about these issues differently.

“How do we increase birth rates?” is a question that can come with a lot of ugly answers, as well as many unintended consequences (banning abortion, it turns out, has coincided not just with an increase in the abortion rate, but has caused a number of fertility-ending complications for women who were trying to have children). But those of us who support abortion rights also tend to support true reproductive choice, and need to grapple with the reality that many people are not able to choose to have the families they desire. Nearly 40 percent of Americans over 50 without children say they wanted them at some point; an additional 24 percent say they weren’t sure. When it comes to fertility, politicians should focus on how they can expand what Americans see as possible.

(Well, *I* tried doing this about a decade ago… and spent at least $70K before my support abandoned me. The child, whom I would have named Alexander, would be 8 years old by now.)

Long article; much discussion of the various factors about why people hesitate about having children. The writer discusses them: child care, work, housing, conservative attitudes. Let’s find the bottom line. It seems to be this:

If we want more babies, we need more men women are willing to have babies with.

And,

Broadcasting to men that they have the right to dictate every woman’s most basic and private choices fosters a culture of dehumanization of women and entitlement among men that is not exactly conducive to the relationships of equals that women seek.

(So, this is the influence of MAGA?) Final para:

The truth is that many nations with generous family policies also see low birth rates. But the U.S. is also an extraordinary and unusual nation in many ways, and we remain a nation in which many people say they want to have children and do not actually have them. There is also a particular psychology that comes along with being offered a long-desired benefit. The women of Scandinavia might take paid leave and universal childcare for granted, but a lot of American would be thrilled to see such policies implemented—and with more possibilities open in front of them, may be eager to take advantage. But they’ll want a good man along for the ride.

OK, fine, but the article barely acknowledges the broad worldwide trend: as we all become richer, as infant mortality plummets compared to historical baselines, women don’t *need* to have more children, and they realize this. The population, of the US and the world, is still increasing. I see the conservative concern about falling birthrates as…. tribal panic. (Are other nations as concerned about this as the US is? Well, yes, I think Japan is. Exactly.)

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Briefly noted.

• NY Times, today: Trump Administration Guts Efforts to Prevent Gun Violence, Suppressing Reports, subtitled: As the administration works to expand gun rights, hospitals and community groups have lost funding, and reports on preventing firearm injuries have vanished from government websites.
• Make gun violence great again!

• Another item about this.
• Salon, Heather Digby Parton, today: Trump resurrects oldest GOP scare tactic over democratic socialist wins, subtitled: Recent wins by democratic socialists have Trump reviving Cold War-era fears
• They never go away.

• Christians can reliably be counted upon to do this. Or, I should say, it’s part of human nature to behave this way. And Christians exemplify that. It’s all about the priority of story and tribe above reality.
• Right Wing Watch, Kyle Mantyla, yesterday: Using The 250th Anniversary To Spread False Christian Nationalist History

• As the nation honors the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Christian nationalists have been outinfullforce, seekingtoexploit thecelebrationstopromote a variety of debunked myths and blatantfalsehoodsin supportof their right-wing political ideology.

• JMG, today: DOJ Sends Threatening Letters To Top Election Officials (from NYT)

• The Justice Department sent letters to at least 10 states on Tuesday threatening criminal prosecution of top election officials if ballots cast by noncitizens were counted in upcoming elections. The letters arrived in the midst of an ongoing campaign by President Trump and his allies to tighten election rules to prevent a problem that doesn’t exist: widespread noncitizen voting in American elections.

• Isn’t this evidence of clinical paranoia?

• The Bulwark, Will Sommer, today: MAGA Loves Trump’s World Cup Meddling—Until We Lose
• Subtitled: They cheered the president for helping to get a red card overturned—but once the U.S. team lost, soccer became “gay.”
• This says much about MAGA. They only care about anything that’s about America, and about winning. All else is gay, or woke, or maybe communist.