A Tel Aviv postcard, as it were
(Click on the image to enlarge it. Click again to enlarge it further.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wrote here the other day about the sharp decline in European birthrates.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the flight over, I noticed several articles in the 18 April 2015 issue of the Economist that, without signaling that as a theme, addressed the topic at least in passing.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finland, for example, which faces a looming election, is the world\u2019s most rapidly aging country. \u00a0By 2030, more than a quarter of the Finnish population will be over 65, which will put enormous burdens on the country\u2019s pension and health-care systems \u2014 just as similar trends have done in Japan.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
But other European countries face the same challenge. \u00a0By 2030, Germany will have 47 people over 65 for ever7 100 people in the workforce. \u00a0Who will pay for their pensions and health care?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Retirement ages will need to be increased, which will irritate older voters.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Immigration will have to be increased in order to find more workers, which will cause all manner of social and cultural stress \u2014 and irritate many voters.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In France, the xenophobic-tending National Front of the Le Pen family is on the rise.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Germany, \u201cPegida\u201d (an acronym for the German \u201cPatriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the Occident\u201d \u00a0has been rallying, and violent incidents against foreigners have been increasing.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Germany took in 200,000 seekers of asylum last year, more than any other country, a fifth of the world\u2019s total \u2014 and that figure is expected to rise to 300,000 this year.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The mayor of Tr\u00f6glitz, in the former East Germany, was forced to resign in March over this issue, faced with threats from neo-Nazis.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And yet, given its aging population and the shortage of workers, Germany desperately needs foreigners.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was mocked on at least one message board for pointing this out, but facts are facts: \u00a0Not having children leads to shrinking populations, and shrinking populations have consequences far beyond the couple choosing not to have children.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Israel would have similar problems, given overall small Jewish family sizes, were it not for immigration. \u00a0Waves of Soviet Jews saved the country for many years. \u00a0But still, high rates of reproduction among Palestinian Arabs, coupled with low Jewish rates, pose a long-term threat to the Jewishness of Israel. \u00a0Will Israel someday have a prime minister named Muhammad<\/em>? \u00a0A Palestinian friend of mine has long argued that the Palestinian motto ought to be \u201cMake love, not war.\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Tel Aviv, Israel<\/p>\n
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\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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