Hi, Folks -

In the past few years the idea has been put forward by some that many countries are in some kind of trouble because their populations are dwindling, or so we're told - and therefore it's necessary to allow for many more additional immigrants to make up for the supposed shortfall.

No one ever seems to say _why_ it's important to keep the population numbers up. What are they thinking? Is it just a matter of population as a source of taxes, to keep government in the style to which it's become accustomed?

We're being told that fertility is dropping, a suggestion that this is why population is decreasing - in which case, focused action should be taken to get estrogen-like compounds out of all food products, personal use products, pesticides, etc., including in those compounds now included in the material used for paper cash register receipts.

But then there's this: The end of WWII saw a "baby boom", an abrupt population increase. The Boomers are aging now. Shouldn't we expect an effect on population as that happens and they start "leaving the building"? If so, why all the rhetoric about a need to keep the numbers up?

And there's this: It's reported that in 2018 the leading cause of death worldwide was abortion, with 45 million abortions performed that year alone. Much has been said about the ostensible benefits of maintaining freely available facilitation of "reproductive rights". But if declining population numbers is really a problem, it seems we should include in our conversations this negative aspect of that issue.

Blessings, all.

--hobie

***********************************************************