Pro-natalists and the ‘Under-Population’ Conspiracy: A Deep Dive

In this video I discuss the growing ‘pro-natalist’ movement, which is based on the idea that the most pressing crisis facing humanity today is the dwindling population number and fertility rates in high income countries (i.e. the imperial core). Followers include tech bros and effective altruists like Elon Musk, OpenAI founder Sam Altman, and the Pennsylvanian couple Malcolm and Simone Collins, who say that humanity is doomed unless we procreate more, even though population numbers in the global south and low-income countries are growing. In fact, the population of the countries that makeup sub-Saharan Africa will become the most populous region in the world in the early 2060s.

But that’s not good enough for white pro-natalists because when it comes down to it what these pro-natalists are actually afraid of is the great replacement theory, or being replaced by so called ‘inferior’ races.

In the end, I dive into why pronatalism is the perfect Trojan horse to disguise some very bigoted and dangerous ideas, as through this ideology, they’re able to hide behind this facade of ‘preserving humanity’ and ‘saving the world’, and yet, they don’t think prosperity and population booms in historically exploited countries is worth celebrating.

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Timestamps:

Content Note: 0:00
Part 1: Pro-Natalism - The Ultimate Dog-Whistle 0:21
Part 2: The Curious Case of Simone And Malcolm Collins (And What to Do about Them) 18:50
Conclusion/TL;DW 34:54

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References:

Ma, Li. Social Policy and Childbearing Behavior in Japan since the 1960s – An Individual Level Perspective by Li Ma PhD, Demography Unit, Department of Sociology, Stockholm University

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Music:

♪ Bored (Prod. by Lukrembo)

[lindsay]

23:31 Hm. ok. So they want to have **at least** 7 children to "repopulate" and "help the world, " but then the moment any of her newborn babies are born - she is so "bored out of her mind when stuck with a newborn, " that she would rather find ways to work from the hospital than interact with her own child. Those poor kids are going to need so much therapy.

[dereineschwarzerabe]

The problem with parents who clearly need therapy is that to them, having children is their "therapy". When I say that, I mean these are the kind of people believe or have been led to believe that children will fix all of their problem and will help with their character growth. It's something I see often in discussions with people who don't want children, when someone states they don't think they would be a good parents, there's always going to be comments about how having a child will change you and better you. While it is true children CAN be a big improvement in someone's life, it is unfair towards the child and can put them at danger when the parent has unresolved mental health issues.

[aronm]

Unfortunately in japan women don't take even close to thier guaranteed maternity leave. They would be fired within a month

[eazydee]

If any birth rate decline in developed countries ever exists, I would say that the true cause is actually from the many side effects of capitalism itself. Capitalism promotes the relentless pursuit of profit and hyperindividualistic attitudes at the expense of actually contributing to the greater society at large. There are many factors at play here, including economic pressures, long working hours, and financial inequality which are often roots behind family conflict and instability, and also discourage people from having their own families. Most other “reasons” or “causes” are scapegoats promoted by the ruling class in order to divide the people and promote agendas and ideologies that lead to oppression of women, LGBTQ+, and ethnic, racial, or religious minorities.

[hollywifi]

while i think it is important to discuss the problem of aging populations (im from the uk where our public health service is under huge pressure partially due to this issue), i think this problem just shows how far weve progressed as a society in terms of better healthcare and reproductive rights etc..
it should NOT be used as an excuse to promote misogyny and racism.

[iamjustkiwi]

From the perspective of a (step)parent I'll throw out a few easy reasons people aren't having kids.

1: Lets be honest, having kids often sucks. It's hard enough dealing with your own daily struggles without adding in the needs of an entire other person or multiple people and right now folks are already stretched thin, which leads to...
2: Who right now can afford to have kids at least here in America? We're a family of 4 who own a home (that was given to us due to generational wealth) which we only need to pay taxes on, and with one of us on disability and the other working full time, we both barely can afford to keep ourselves fed and clothed. I can't imagine what its like to be in this situation with the risk of eviction hanging over us.
3: What are we supposed to share with our kids to aspire to in the future? My generation was given a lot of false promises about the future so we won't blow smoke up our kid's butts about an amazing, hopeful future. Things look bleak and the best we can offer them is they'll always have a home to come to should things go bad once they move out. I think too many parents fail their kids by creating unrealistic expectations of what the real world is actually like, and besides kids now have access to the worlds information, they can SEE how bad it is out there.

I might be a bit cynical but I try to stay realistic, and I have never encouraged people to have kids. If the people in power want folks to reproduce, maybe give them a world they feel good about the future of?

[rudetuesday]

I am fascinated by how much pro-natalists dislike people. Thank you for talking about this issue. I need to invest in a blood-pressure monitor.

[AtomikVT]

I just want to point out that the couple named their kids Octavian (a Roman emperor), Torsten (="Thor's stone"), and Titan Invictus (combining two beings from Roman mythology). Combined with their pro-natalism, that's giving some...vibes. You know?

[TonyMidyett]

When we Commoners stop pumping out new worker drones, The Masters of Mankind get nervous. 🙄

[caramazzola]

The pronatalist lady with the glasses is such a cartoon villain lmao

[mollyt]

As a parent, I agree 100%.
I worry about Malcolm and Simone’s children. It seems like there are too many expectations put on these kids.

[grandsome]

The Collins look like mad scientists running an unethical social experiment with their children.

[FurbyFullyLoaded]

Sounds like the Collins are producing the tech bro equivalent of feral children

[DMFTexTex]

I had never thought about how talking about the declining birth rate is a racist dog whistle. This video was really thought-provoking. Thank you.

[kated]

Everytime conservative families get in the spotlight for how "happy and wonderful" their family is, you know some dark terrible stuff is bound to soon be uncovered about how things REALLY were like behind closed doors...

[mbanerjee]

Not everyone is fit to be a parent. If you aren't willing to make a full time commitment to your kids, you shouldn't have kids.

[peachesandcream]

I'm from Russia and there, politicians were sooo afraid of our demographic decline, so they introduced "maternal capital" to encourage women to make babies. First, this worked poorly and many women didn't receive any "maternal capital" at all. Second, a lot of addicties and poor marginals decided to exploit this by birthing as many children as possible to live on governmental money. They also received bonus for birthing more than 3 children, so it only encouraged them to birth children for money.
And the thing is that pro-natalist policies already existed back in USSR. There was "childlessness tax", when ANYONE who had less than 3 kids or no kids at all had to pay tax for the government. My deceased grandparents had my mother and my uncle and they still had to pay tax because 2 kids didn't count as "enough". Of course, Soviet citizens hated this tax but they had no choice. Now, many Russian politicians (especially very religious ones, ahem) want this "childlessness tax" to come back. They also want to remove abortion from medical insurance policy. I don't have any stabile income and I have to live with my abusive mother, and these politicians want me to be a baby-making machine? Hell naw.

[papi_sativa]

a. They look like brother and sister
b. He look like an AI generated Steven Colbert & she look like an AI generated Elizabeth Holmes
c. They look like an AI generated conservative lesbian couple

[CaptainPeregrin]

I worked for a year with an income tax assistance program (aimed at low-income communities), and knowing that the Child Tax Credit is part of a pro-natalist agenda makes SO MUCH SENSE. You need to have an SSN for every kid, and a lot of low-income parents don't know about the credit, or even forget the SSNs. It also requires that the parents do taxes, and that the kids have social security cards to begin with, which isn't a given for immigrant families

[TonyHalle]

Billionaire ceos: I need this many people working in my factory or else I won't be able to keep exponentially gaining wealth!! We're underpopulated!!