Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'demographics'

February 28, 2019

Socialism contributes to a global baby deficit

Polarizing figures throughout history – from doomsday cults to political extremists – have advised their followers not to have children. Expert commentators and a groundbreaking new study show that this, when mixed with government pressure, has led countless mothers to lifelong remorse and deprived nations of a better standard of living. Continue Reading...
January 18, 2019

Europe’s most pressing problem

“Most urgently of all,” asked George Weigel in The Cube and the Cathedral, “why is Europe committing demographic suicide?” Weigel’s book was published almost fifteen years ago, but his question on Europe’s infertility is as urgent as ever—even more urgent now, in fact. Continue Reading...
December 21, 2018

Gilet jaunes and the issue of intergenerational justice

France’s “yellow vest” protesters oppose the nation’s crushing carbon taxes on fossil fuels, but a deeper issue stoking discontent remains unexplored. Without addressing that issue, President Emmanuel Macron’s concessions to the gilet jaunes protesters “will certainly not resolve France’s underlying economic problems,” writes Professor Philip Booth in a new essay for Religion & Liberty Transatlantic titled, “Gilet jaune: the uprising of a generation.” Continue Reading...
November 28, 2018

Demographic decline: Ben Franklin’s two cents

Not one of Benjamin Franklin’s better-known works, but one worth reading nonetheless, is a brief 1751 essay called Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c. Franklin covers a lot of ground in just a few pages, and brings up quite a few ideas worth commenting on, but I wanted to highlight one paragraph and its relevance for the “birth dearth” we see in the West today. Continue Reading...
December 15, 2015

Hope Beyond the Headlines on Millennials and Religion

Some recent headlines: December 15: “Why millennials are leaving religion but embracing spirituality” December 14: “Growing number of Millennials shun religion” December 13: “Millennials and religion: The great disconnect” December 9: “Millennials less likely to be religious than older Americans” This certainly sounds bad. Continue Reading...