《The Good Crash: An Oral History of the Post-Scarcity Collapse》51. THE SOCIOLOGIST
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THE SOCIOLOGIST
The wall of his office hosts more screens than a stock market trading floor. Monitors with economic charts and trend lines update a few times each second.
I lean in and peer at some of the data more closely, catching glimpses of labels like "Online Job Postings / Daily Jobless Claims," and "Carbon Dioxide Concentration Tracker."
"Having all this data at my fingertips is slowly driving me mad," he admits, "but I think I'd have a nervous breakdown if I couldn't at least keep a finger on these things. These charts used to show slow changes. Now? Nothing is slow."
Back in the early-to-mid 20th century, there was this great debate between scientists and world leaders about the problem of population control.
Some folks said we were going to just keep pumping out babies until we all starved to death. People like William Vogt and Paul Ehrlich were basically predicting that a plurality of humans would starve to death before the new millennium.
They were wrong, of course. You've heard of the "demographic transition," right?
You're referring to the fact that rich societies tend to have lower birth rates, right?
Yes. It's tied to a number of factors. Industrialization, which leads to urbanization and more restricted living space. Lowered infant mortality rates. Increased access to birth control.
Experts have argued about the causes for decades, ever since social scientists first started to recognize the trend in the '30s.
By the beginning of this century, some people started ringing the alarm bells about the fact that birth rates were falling beneath replacement levels in developed countries. Hence looser immigration policies to support continued economic growth.
But all that has fallen apart.
The birth rates are skyrocketing again in America. It's too early to say for sure, but some predictions say we'll surpass four-point-zero within the next 10 years.
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For context: It was, like, one-point-seven in developed countries, before the collapse.
So what are the consequences of that?
It's hard to say. How many humans can the earth's climate support?
Food supply is only theoretically constrained by access to an energy source, but since replicators can generate their own energy source as well, even that isn't a real limit.
You know, all of our models about atmospheric carbon emissions are completely fucked now. Our country is pumping out far less carbon than we used to, and our animal-based foods industries have collapsed, obviously, so that's a win for the environment. But other countries are on the same path as before.
Industrialization has been an ongoing process for well over 200 years, and it's falling apart in a fraction of that time. Urbanization, too, is on the way out. Fewer and fewer people want to live in cities anymore. Who the fuck is gonna pay premium prices for a small apartment in downtown Manhattan anymore? All those buildings are going to squatters.
And, frankly, all of this should've been predictable. The downsides of city life are no longer an acceptable trade-off when you can have all your basic needs met by a replicator, so long as you've got access to an electricity source.
If industrialization and urbanization were the only things holding back the birth rate, what happens when those centuries-long trends come undone in under a single decade?
Eventually, other countries will get their hands on replicators. Where might the birth rate top out, then?
Ten-point-zero?
A lot of us thought that—because of the magic of global capitalism and the demographic transition—humanity was going to stabilize at around 10 billion souls on planet earth.
Now it's not clear what the real limit is.
One hundred billion?
A trillion?
We might get there faster than you think.
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Life: New Game +
I died and reincarnated. Or something like that. What would you do if you could live your life all over again? In a fantasy world. Tasked with an impossible quest. Having the worst possible luck. Life: New Game + here I come. On Hiatus
8 190Hemophobia
Having a good life Chris never even thought about joining virtual reality. A lot of friends and even more girlfriends. Expensive clothes and cars. A handsome athletic look and highly intelligent mind. In addition a Family that can provide everything to him. Pretty much everything someone wants to have at the age of 20. However Chris starts to have second thoughts about his ''blessings'' and decides to join virtual reality with the purpose of having a very different life there.PS. There will be no violation (rape) scenes in my story. Rape, sadly, is part of our world with many culprits and victims and I don't accept to 'create' another victim OR culprit of such monstrosities, even if they are fictional. The story in general will remain on the bright side most of the time.
8 122Deadlier of the Species - Book 2 of Descendants of a Dead Earth
(The second book in the Descendants of a Dead Earth series, taking place immediately after the events of A Tinker's Damn, which can be found here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/30309/a-tinkers-damn-book-1-of-descendants-of-a-dead) Deadlier of the Species turns its attention to Samara, of the Protean Clan. Recruited and trained by the clandestine Wetworks organization, Samara has left a long and bloody trail of bodies in her wake. But natural born killers are rare, rather they are created, molded by powerful entities to do their bidding in a shadow war where there are no borders, and everything comes with a price...including your soul. But now that she has been freed from her chains, Samara has a few old scores of her own to settle...and perhaps a new cause to fight for as well.
8 171RE:Origin
MC, his little sister, and along with her classmates were summoned to Another World as Heroes. As expected, the Princess requested their help in subduing the demons. Same old, same old. Thankfully, the MC didn't believe her words. Just as he was looking for the information of the unknown world, he came across someone, which caused him to seek out the King, asking for permission to leave the castle. Surprisingly, the King gives him permission. And so, MC and his little sister left the castle with a goal in mind. — Chapter release at Sunday and Monday, 19:00 MYT. If you can't wait and want to read more, check out my patreon. Join in my new Discord! °Characters illustration in the book cover aren't mine, credits goes to the rightfully owner.(Picrew)
8 226Points of Light - An Oral History of the Collapse
Humanity endures. The phrase is not only an informal slogan of the reformed United Nations, but a rallying cry the world over. Even in the face of extermination, we struggled, we fought, and we endured. But just how close did we actually come? In our darkest hour, how many steps separated our species from oblivion? And are we even safe now? Were the mistakes made by earlier generations really so obvious? Or are they only so blatent when we look back with the advantage of hindsight? If so, what horrors might be staring us in the face even now that no one has the foresight to prevent? Drawn from thousands of interviews, as well as uncorrupted contemporary recordings and source documentation dating back to the early 2000s; Points of Light is a definative look at the last half century of upheaval, prosperity and carnage. It tells the tale of what happened, how it happened, who was responsible and most importantly, what we might be able to do to prevent it from happening again. This is a rewrite of a previously started fiction under a pen-name. Chapters will be updated every two days at 6:00 EST.
8 114Knights of Auran
We all have a life force known as the Spirit. What if there’s more to the spirit than life? Meet Kevin Riley, a teen that discovers he's part of an evolved sect of humans known as the Seirei Jin that have inhabited Earth for centuries. Abducted for their special powers by the government, Kevin escapes as he's summoned by an ancient stone that transports him to another world, Zonia. He's recruited by the Knights of Auran to help save their world from the evil Laban.
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