Quote:
Originally Posted by w123fanman
Actually, looking at it from a strictly human geographic standpoint, if anything, the US needs to increase the birthrate in order for the US to maintain its stage three status in the demographic transition model. In simpler terms, the US wants to maintain a birthrate that is close to the death rate so that there is not a disparity in the number of working people vs the number of elderly, retired people like there is in other western countries and Japan (stage four in the model). The main reason we want to maintain a close ratio of births to deaths is that Social Security is only viable under its current format. The taxes of one working person cannot support the Social Security benefits of two or more elderly people if they receive their full benefits.
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Japan is in a pronounced state of the condition you refer to in part owing to their high density. Take away the sq. miles of uninhabitable mountains, and Japan is perhaps the most densely populated nation on earth. When I hear the predictions about California's population doubling in X number of years, it's sorta scary.
Social Security working out as we'd all like it to is somewhat apart from the realities of resources and density.