The Birthrate Hustle

The push to “raise the birthrate” is less about family values or national stability and more about propping up capitalism’s endless growth model. Governments and corporations rely on an ever-expanding population to sustain economic activity–more workers to exploit, more consumers to buy products, and more taxpayers to fund government programs. Without constant growth, capitalist economies risk stagnation, making population decline a crisis for those in power. Instead of restructuring economic systems to be sustainable, leaders push policies that encourage higher birthrates to keep the machine running.

At its core, this operates like a Ponzi scheme. Just as a Ponzi scheme depends on new investors to pay off old ones, modern economies depend on new generations to sustain older ones. Pensions and even stock market growth hinge on a steady influx of young workers. If birthrates decline, these systems falter. So instead of addressing economic inequality or automation’s potential to reduce reliance on human labor, government and corporations double down on growth-at-all-costs policies, pushing more births to delay the inevitable collapse.

The problem is that infinite growth isn’t possible on a finite planet. Resources are limited, and as populations rise, environmental destruction accelerates. Yet capitalism refuses to adjust, treating population growth as a short-term fix rather than an unsustainable gamble. Instead of questioning whether we need more people to feed this system, we should be questioning the system itself. Because in the long run, the real crisis isn’t declining birthrates; it’s capitalism’s refusal to function without them.