Thanks for this important point about the downsides of increasing the population growth rate, Christopher. Sorry you got a somewhat nasty response to this, although hopefully it was just meant to be funny. It is a big downer to think about things this way; it is just an even bigger downer not to. I agree that while more children may be a solution (one I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit I hadn’t thought of!) to the widespread declining enrollment problem, that there are confounding policy imperatives such as the climate change impact of increasing the population growth rate that necessitate thinking harder about crafting a policy or set of policies that make more wholistic sense. I thought Bob K.’s suggestion was a creative one I also hadn’t thought of — (voluntarily) redistribute people essentially; make places like Lincoln more welcoming and attractive to a more diverse set of people. That could potentially increase our tax base as well. I was more focused on the economics rather than the people side of the issue, so I appreciated Katy and Bob’s perspectives. Needless to say I very much appreciate yours as well. Thanks for contributing to the discussion! Best,MichelleSouth Great Road
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone On Thursday, June 15, 2023, 6:52 AM, Christopher Eliot <[email protected]> wrote: From: Caitlin Hogue <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [LincolnTalk] Fw: Soon we won’t have enough kids to fill our schools Date: June 14, 2023 at 8:31:01 AM EDT To: Michelle Barnes <[email protected]> Cc: Lincoln Talk <[email protected]> Hi all, One (longer-term) solution is to identify ways to increase the birth rate. WBUR shared this story a couple of days ago about a particular city in Japan that has implemented specific programs to help families with children, and has a higher birth rate than the country overall (while simultaneously growing in population, which is attributed to these programs in the interview): https://www.npr.org/2023/06/12/1181638613/japan-announces-plan-to-address-a-national-crisis-its-low-birthrate Best,Katy A decreasing population solves many, many problems and should not be opposed because of the few problems it does create. There are too many people for the planet to support everyone. There are not enough resources for all. There is not enough room for wildlife and natural places. There is not enough food. The only way we have reached the current population is by massive exploitation of fossil fuels, which must stop. Water resources for growing food are in danger. There is not enough housing. We cannot sustain the population we have.-- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected]. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
-- The LincolnTalk mailing list. To post, send mail to [email protected]. Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. Change your subscription settings at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln.
