Should The Left Talk About Birthrates - Stephen J Shaw

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Demographer Stephen J Shaw's research on global birthrates has become a cause célèbre of the radical right.

Since publishing his data on delaying parenthood as the cause for "unplanned childlessness", Stephen has been welcomed to the upper echelons of Right-wing discourse - with the likes of Jordan Peterson and appearances at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.

Undoubtedly, these are places that don't share our politics. So why have we hosted Stephen?

Well, because Stephen's research and his methodologies have been peer reviewed. His data, as much as we might find it uncomfortable, is real. And if the Left doesn't have an analysis for the effects of global birthrate decline, then the Right certainly will.

In this discussion, we explore Stephen's findings and why there has been cross-cultural delaying of parenthood. In particular we question why population decline would be harmful, how attitudes toward parenthood have changed and why the Right have co-opted this issue as their own.

Is there a case for a left-natalism, drawing on the innovations and heritage of social democracy?

Chapters 00:00 Intro 05:43 Are Birthrates "Collapsing"? 13:03 Population Apocalypse? 16:05 Is Immigration a Fix? 22:00 The 'Replacement' Debate 26:03 Why The Left are Suspicious of Stephen 31:51 The Challenge of Ecological Collapse 37:42 Freddie and Jovan's Theory of Birthrate Decline 45:30 The Vitality Curve 51:24 Is 'Unplanned Childlessness' a Fair Term? 58:25 Can Delayed Parenthood be Reversed? 1:05:21 Is 'Hypergamy' Real? 1:11:20 The Loneliness Epidemic 1:15:02 Do Freddie and Jovan Want Kids 1:21:33 Have Romantic Relationships Changed? 1:25:50 Why Religious Fundamentalists Are Pro-Natalist 1:29:36 Is There A Case for Left-Natalism? 1:36:02 How Do AI and Demographics Affect Labour and Capital? 1:40:00 Should People Move To Africa? 1:45:18 How Can We Talk About Birthrates Maturely?