Will the US become like Western Europe?

[Pidgey]

....But, you forgot to post proof o' that, right??

​

You might occasionally try Google, you know...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-replacement_fertility

Today about 42% of the world population lives in nations with sub-replacement fertility. Nonetheless most of these countries still have growing populations due to immigration and population momentum. This includes most nations of Europe, Canada, Australia, Russia, Iran, Tunisia, China, Japan, and many others. The countries or areas that have the lowest fertility are Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Taiwan, Ukraine and Lithuania. Only a few countries have severe enough or sustained sub-replacement fertility (combined with other population factors like emmigration) to have population decline, such as Russia, Japan, Lithuania, and Ukraine.

And:

http://www.china-profile.com/data/fig_WPP2008_NRR_1.htm

​

 

[Mr. Shaman]

You might occasionally try Google, you know...

Today about 42% of the world population lives in nations with sub-replacement fertility. Nonetheless most of these countries still have growing populations due to immigration and population momentum. This includes most nations of Europe....

​

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.....and, that qualifies as:​

"That's one of the reasons why they were starting to import more aliens."​

How odd you second-quote doesn't make immigration as PRO-ACTIVE an activity, as your first-reference: "...starting to import..."

(Nice job o' tap-dancin', though....)​

 

[Pidgey]

 

[PLC1]

That infant mortality statistic is questionable - plus, out of dozens of metrics it gets brought up regularly like either a general indicator of quality, or that we're baby killers. I mean, as if.

It seems more likely to me that the infant mortality stat is a function of prenatal care along with hospitals being prepared for birth emergencies. I have a great nephew who was born in Denmark with a somewhat rare condition that can deprive the infant of oxygen in the first critical moments. Hospitals there are prepared for that condition, most of the ones here are not. A healthy and active young boy most likely would have been a statistic had his parents been living in the US at the time he was born.

That they might live longer, some of them take months off of work out of the year - they don't push themselves like we do, and why should they, they're taken care of for life, if they do get wealthy somehow it's 90-percent taxed.

Oh, yes, if only they would stress themselves out grubbing for the almighty dollar, like we do here in America, then they would have shorter lives as well. If only they would worry themselves sick wondering how they might pay for a medical emergency, they could be just like us Americans!

And how do we know it's not consanguinity making them less prone to crime, let alone statism, and the afore-mentioned general lack of incentive?

I'm not sure what the cause is. The US has a higher percentage of prisoners per capita than any other nation. The reasons for that startling and uncomfortable fact could be a thread all by itself.

There's not much to learn, I mean, whatever they achieve, you know, the pharaohs built the pyramids by throwing power and resources at the problem - remarkable yes, but not paradigm shifting.

I'm not sure just what that last paragraph means.

 

[dahermit]

Poor families in the US have cars, multiple tv's, cell phones, microwaves, own homes, have Nike's and jewelry, etc.

Somehow I missed all that when I grew up in poverty. We did not have a car. We did not have a TV. We did not have a phone. We did not have a microwave. We did not own a home. We did not have Nike's. We did not have a dentist. When we were sick, we lay on the couch until better. Most of the cloths I wore were hand-me-downs from an older brother or were used and given to our family by friends and relatives. I had one pair of good shoes that had to be worn until they wore out, no matter how much too tight they had become (I have deformed feet from wearing too tight shoes). We did not have hot water, cold water had to be heated on the kitchen stove for bathing.

Yes, poor families have it goooood!

Just how in the hell do you think that you know what poor faimilies have?

 

[Pidgey]

To be fair... you probably grew up more than a few years ago, right?

 

[Dr.Who]

Somehow I missed all that when I grew up in poverty. We did not have a car. We did not have a TV. We did not have a phone. We did not have a microwave. We did not own a home. We did not have Nike's. We did not have a dentist. When we were sick, we lay on the couch until better. Most of the cloths I wore were hand-me-downs from an older brother or were used and given to our family by friends and relatives. I had one pair of good shoes that had to be worn until they wore out, no matter how much too tight they had become (I have deformed feet from wearing too tight shoes). We did not have hot water, cold water had to be heated on the kitchen stove for bathing.

Yes, poor families have it goooood!

Just how in the hell do you think that you know what poor faimilies have?

I can''t help it if you are both unfortunate and uninformed. The US census is clear that most poor families do have most of the luxuries mentioned. Your example is clearly a departure from the norm.

I am also glad to see that you are no longer poor demonstrating another fundamental difference between poor families here and those in many other countries.

I am also sorry to see that your parents were too stupid to take you to see the free dentists or the free doctors that were available through public aid and other government programs.

No home? Do you mean you were living on the streets? Definitely a minority among the poor and not representative of what I was talking about.

 

[Hanno]

Oh, yes, if only they would stress themselves out grubbing for the almighty dollar, like we do here in America, then they would have shorter lives as well. If only they would worry themselves sick wondering how they might pay for a medical emergency, they could be just like us Americans!

I'm not sure what the cause is. The US has a higher percentage of prisoners per capita than any other nation. The reasons for that startling and uncomfortable fact could be a thread all by itself.

I'm not sure just what that last paragraph means.

The pyramids are remarkable in scale, but for all the planar sides ground onto blocks they're not a great departure from the shape piles of rock assume on their own, as compared to the aqueducts, for instance. The same applies to Europe - I mean, even if you had no morality to keep you form rolling your cousin, it wouldn't do to try it with someone who'd recognize you - most of what they've got going for them is inseparable from the fact that they view inbreeding as a status symbol/means of retaining wealth, let alone their problems with understanding liberty and general squalor.

 

[rationalist]

An American castigating inbreeding is a bit like Bush castigating half-wit imperialist war criminals.

BTW Europe is a continent and the US is a country so the comparison on this thread is somewhat assinine to begin with.

However, what is true is that that the best literature, science, art, manufacturing, legal systems, cuisine etc all come from the countries of Europe

London is the financial capital of the world for example but most people in the US would just assume it is NYC. That is because most Americans are spectacularly ignorant of the world outside of their own shores.

But what the theme of this discussion demonstrates is the superiority complex that Americans have and sadly my experience is that they really believe that America is the best country in the world and Americans are somehow superior to other nationals.

This says a lot about them which is not good.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Poor families in the US have cars, multiple tv's, cell phones, microwaves, own homes, have Nike's and jewelry, etc.

Somehow I missed all that when I grew up in poverty. We did not have a car. We did not have a TV. We did not have a phone. We did not have a microwave. We did not own a home. We did not have Nike's. We did not have a dentist. When we were sick, we lay on the couch until better. Most of the cloths I wore were hand-me-downs from an older brother or were used and given to our family by friends and relatives. I had one pair of good shoes that had to be worn until they wore out, no matter how much too tight they had become (I have deformed feet from wearing too tight shoes). We did not have hot water, cold water had to be heated on the kitchen stove for bathing.

Ah, yes.....the good ol' days....the '50s!!!!!!

 

[PLC1]

The pyramids are remarkable in scale, but for all the planar sides ground onto blocks they're not a great departure from the shape piles of rock assume on their own, as compared to the aqueducts, for instance. The same applies to Europe - I mean, even if you had no morality to keep you form rolling your cousin, it wouldn't do to try it with someone who'd recognize you - most of what they've got going for them is inseparable from the fact that they view inbreeding as a status symbol/means of retaining wealth, let alone their problems with understanding liberty and general squalor.

So, the Europeans have longer lives, a stronger currency, lower infant mortality, and so on due to inbreeding?

 

[Pidgey]

The pyramids are remarkable in scale, but for all the planar sides ground onto blocks they're not a great departure from the shape piles of rock assume on their own, as compared to the aqueducts, for instance. The same applies to Europe - I mean, even if you had no morality to keep you form rolling your cousin, it wouldn't do to try it with someone who'd recognize you - most of what they've got going for them is inseparable from the fact that they view inbreeding as a status symbol/means of retaining wealth, let alone their problems with understanding liberty and general squalor.

You know... I've actually been inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu (wrongly named, but what the heck!) and the stones in the Grand Gallery are cut so well that you couldn't slip a feeler gauge between them. Quite a feat, considering the enormous size of those stones. I'll bet you didn't know about the "Stone of the Pregnant Woman" (one of many names) in Baalbek, either... a stone that weighed almost 1,157 tons (calculated by specific gravity and dimensions), which was an unused stone still laying in the quarry near the Trilithon. We couldn't even move those stones today without massive equipment and the Romans or Greeks certainly couldn't have moved them either. There is no comparable stonework to them in Europe--nothing near the scale nor nothing near the perfection.

 

[Hanno]

An American castigating inbreeding is a bit like Bush castigating half-wit imperialist war criminals.

They do it more than we do, but that's just a matter of degree - what sets Europe apart in inbreeding is that they've elevated it to the level of an art form.

 

[Hanno]

So, the Europeans have longer lives, a stronger currency, lower infant mortality, and so on due to inbreeding?

It applies best to the crime example, but it does show the depths of depravity to which they will sink or allow themselves to be driven in the name of social order.

 

[PLC1]

It applies best to the crime example, but it does show the depths of depravity to which they will sink or allow themselves to be driven in the name of social order.

If social order is the result of inbreeding, and if the Europeans are indeed given to that form of population increase, then I suppose the rural south must be a paragon of social order.