Let’s grow!
‘More people’ is good for the world. ’More Americans’ is even better.
Some people got mad last week when I wrote that we need more kids, because growth is the only cure for our country.
Astrid commented: “Why is it even important for humanity to actually survive?… Has anyone thought about how irrational it is to bring up people that will then be the problems that will need to be solved?”
AnitNatalist wrote: “Selfish reasons to create more life and more suffering.. Amazing”
Scott said: “This is a simplistic and uninformed article. ‘More’ is not automatically ‘better’. The number one thing any human being can do to alleviate the increasing damage to our environment is to avoid adding *more* people to an already crowded world.”
I could understand their viewpoints if the facts supported them, but as Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan said “You are entitled to your own opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”
There are almost 8 billion people on the planet today. If you love humanity, and you believe in the good of people, that is great news. If, on the other hand, you see people as problems that need to be solved, alleviated, or cause suffering, that’s bad news.
What do the facts show?
We are wealthier, healthier, more literate, less violent, less sexist, and kinder to children today compared to any time in our past. On every conceivable metric, things have gotten better with each billion people added to the planet. Not worse.
To take one of the saddest of all metrics, just a few generations ago, parents lost on average between 3 and 4 of their children to death before the age of 18. The big improvements in health, cleanliness, pay, and manufacturing that made this deepest of all sorrows go away were only possible because we had more people doing more clever things to make life better for all of us.
I’m surprised some people are so wrong about the facts. And I’m thankful for the dozens of readers who disagreed - politely, effectively, and correctly - with the negative commenters. We appreciate the chance to persuade our fellow citizens with reason, facts, and data.
A bigger America is a better America. ‘More people’ is good for the world; ’more Americans’ is even better.
Even Elon Musk agreed on Monday: “There are not enough people. I can’t emphasize this enough. There are not enough people. And I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is the low birthrate and the rapidly declining birthrate. And yet so many people, including smart people, think that there are too many people in the world and think that the population is growing out of control. It’s completely the opposite. Please look at the numbers. If people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble. Mark my words.”
Yes, please do mark his words. We need more people. Specifically, more Americans.
Growth is essential to America remaining the most special place in the world. We don’t want to live in a world where we aren’t the largest and most successful economy. Being smaller than China, or other regions, would hurt our way of life.
If we ended up smaller, we’d have less pull when negotiating with other countries. People wouldn’t take us as seriously. We’d have a smaller say in the decisions the world makes together. Being forced to follow the say-so of Belgium, Bhutan, or Bolivia wouldn’t be good for America.
Our culture of invention and innovation depends on growth. More people, a growing market, and a bigger workforce draw the best and the brightest from around the world; Elon Musk, Enes Kanter Freedom, and Rihanna among them.
We’re admired for the new things we invent, from iPhones to Teslas. We’re sought after for the stories we dream up, from Star Wars to The Sopranos to Old Town Road. We’re imitated the world over for our culture of excellence, from Harvard to the NBA.
Growing, rising, dominating the conversation in the world comes naturally to Americans in the 21st century. It’s where we belong.
What’s more, world peace literally depends on American growth. We have been the leaders in creating freedom and prosperity throughout the world. Why do you think France and Germany haven’t gone to war against each other for the first time in hundreds of years? Lucky accident? No, it’s because there are more Americans now, and we’re keeping the peace. Why did The Wall come down? It wasn’t Pink Floyd. As my friend on the train said: America “set us free.”
Our Social Security system depends on growth. When they set it up 80 years ago, they knew it would have a big price tag. Unfortunately, they chose the “buy now, pay later,” plan to fund it. As you probably know, the money saved for Social Security out of your paycheck is… not saved at all. It’s paid out immediately to cover Social Security costs today.
Of course that’s cheaper in the short run, but it’s also shooting ourselves in the foot. That money isn’t saved or invested for the future, so it’s gone. And the people who are paying now need to hope there are enough vibrant young Americans in the future who are willing to return the favor. If we shrink, Social Security sinks.
The environment gets better as we grow. For example, the number of trees in the US increased over the last century. That’s because modern Americans want to visit their forests, not cut them down for making houses and fuel. We’ve learned to do fewer foolish things with landfills, factories, and spills. More clever people invent more clever ways for us to live cleaner lives.
Our American money system depends on growth. People all over the planet conduct their business in Benjamins. Rich people and rich countries want to stash their cash in American greenbacks. We don’t realize how lucky we are that the rest of the world likes our money and wants to use it. Being the most important currency has fringe benefits for us when times are hard. And, for that matter, when times are good, too.
Finally, over a very long time, our safety depends on growth. It might take one or two centuries, but eventually, shrinking would risk our safety. Countries with larger populations would slowly, but surely, catch up in wealth. That wealth plus more people would mean, sooner or later, a military as big as ours. Maybe even as effective as ours. We can’t let that happen. Growth is our best defense.
Your family’s health, wealth, safety and prosperity depend on the continued growth of the United States of America. The world’s health, wealth and safety do as well. For all of those reasons, more Americans mean a better America and a better world.
Let’s grow!
Marc
Follow me on twitter: @cenedella
We need more children raised in a household with a loving father to a loving mother and children. God teaches that and because our country is turning its back on that principle we see the consequences all around us.
There is a subtlety that is being missed here. The answer is not black and white- more people vs no more/less people. It’s how many more and what variety. By variety, I mean diversity- we need a diversity of race and religion of course, but also a diversity of thinking, philosophy, life experience.