Quote Originally Posted by slack_pie View Post
This is true in the current paradigm, but who knows what the future holds with AI and other emerging technologies completely reshaping our notions of society, economy, work, productivity, purpose, etc.

Re birth rates - it's obviously a complex and multifaceted issue, but I'd imagine the main reasons why people born here are having fewer babies include a sense that our society is in terminal decline, inability for the average couple to own a home, the fixation on careers over family, and the rapid move away from conservative values.

Expanding our population by bringing in millions of foreigners seems a very short-sighted sticking-plaster-type solution to a problem that needs addressing at the root level.
All of this is exactly right IMO.

Not that I think necessarily the solution involves a return to "conservative values". A 1950s marriage was absolutely a raw deal for women.

But to not address the issue at all and just paper over it year after year with huge immigration - probably a huge mistake in the long term. But it's exactly what we're all doing.

Meanwhile, half the population refuses to talk about it because it's "racist" to question if immigration is the answer, and the other half only want to talk about the tiny % who enter illegally because talking about the rest means addressing a huge lie their "side" continually employs. This is not conducive to a solution either.