Swedish politician calls for more porn on TV to boost birthrate

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Kassiopeia


My guess would be that the US has more religions that allow and cause larger families and thus higher birthrates. The Mormons are a marginal group, but the Mexicans and Catholics (or even more, Catholic Mexicans) are another story. Europe, on the other hand, is mostly Protestant, excluding Italy, Spanish, Portugal and other possible smaller countries, and I think Catholism isn't practiced that fanatically as it is in the States.

The US is ~3/4 Protestant, 1/5 Catholic.

I don't know if Europe as a whole is even half Protestant.

You've got UK, Germany, Nordic countries (can't remember if Swedes are Lutherans or Catholics) Switzerland and parts of Austria for a grand total in the neighbourhood of 150? million out of a total pop of 300 million. The rest are either Orthodox or Catholic.

[Nacht]

Originally posted by CyberGnu
There should be more heavy snowfalls. Last time Gothenburg was shut down for three days the birthrate tripled...

Wasn't there a thread some time ago about Bush being able to let it rain in Europe? Maybe they could ask him?

[Lung]

Originally posted by Kepler
"gravey shot" = "money shot" i.e, come shot?

Got it in one Sorry, but i had to make it as benign and obscure as possible. Actually, i realised that i got it wrong. It is the "money shot". What i was thinking about was the "gravy stroke"

I was just making the point that the habit of porn stars pulling out for the glory shot is likely to make teenage, um, ****ers likely to follow suit when they eventually strike the jackpot. Apparently, it's common now for boys to be shocked to find women with pimples on their bums and hair on their privates due to the unrealistic presentations in porn mags

AND THE SMELL!!!

[St Leo]

But she adds that she does not want to see more hardcore porn on TV.

I am sure that this is a key point. What is her definition of softcore pr0n?

[Lung]

Originally posted by St Leo


I am sure that this is a key point. What is her definition of softcore pr0n?

Usually "looking at another woman"

[Kassiopeia]

Originally posted by Frogger


The US is ~3/4 Protestant, 1/5 Catholic.

I don't know if Europe as a whole is even half Protestant.

Okay... I admit that pulling facts out of one's ass rarely works.

[IoT]

Interesting issue. Why would we be wanting to increase the birth rate in Western Europe? Most economic activities there scale both up and down with demand.

Another question (possibly OT) but why is it ethical to provide tax incentives for bearing children or additional taxation for single people?

[Buck Birdseed]

Originally posted by IoT
Interesting issue. Why would we be wanting to increase the birth rate in Western Europe? Most economic activities there scale both up and down with demand.

The issue is not economic activity but more permanent structures and regional politics. The countryside is losing its population at quite a fast rate with the increased mobility of the workforce, meaning many communities dwindle down to nothing and dissappear. Local politicians are ****ing racists and don't want immigrants to replace them, ergo the call for more children.

The politician was shut out of the party womens' group and denounced as a madwoman by its leader today.

[IoT]

Still not sure why this is viewed as a problem. Granted agricultural communities may wither and populations may migrate but rebalancing political representation isn't too hard - urban high population areas get more political representatives than smaller population agricultural areas. From a permanance point of view - very little that is man made is permanent. People are very adaptable. Food production is not really an issue either IMO. Market forces will balance out land usage quite well although there may be strategic issues about being reliant on imported food stuffs.

I can possibly see an issue with retaining national/regional culture but globalization, European integration and the moderrn lifestyle have been eroding traditional culture for the last 200 years.

[leftover_crack]

"The issue is not economic activity but more permanent structures and regional politics. The countryside is losing its population at quite a fast rate with the increased mobility of the workforce, meaning many communities dwindle down to nothing and dissappear. Local politicians are ****ing racists and don't want immigrants to replace them, ergo the call for more children. "


Its better to raise Swedish people to do this. Immigrants tend to work for lower wages, Send money home, and tends to erode the nations culture and creates anti-immigration atmoshpere. ( There taking our jobs...etc. Its hear in the US)

Not about Racism. Having more kids for the future makes more sense.

[IoT]

But surely the whole issue is about scaling - with a smaller population you don't have any job that go unfilled. You are still likely to end up the same employment rates irrespective of the population size.

[Ned]

As to the birthrate in the US growing since the late '70s, one can note that our long national nightmare ended just about then with the election of Ronald Reagan.

[Cairo_East]

Originally posted by Oerdin
People are agreeing with me?

There is another good question which Time Magazine asks in its most recent issue. The American birth rate has been increasing steadly since it hit an all time low in the late 1970's while Europe's has continued, more or less, downward. Why the reason for this divergence?

Here's what I learned in my sociology class:

The USA has far higher levels of immigration than nations in Western Europe. Most immigrants to the USA are in their early 20s, looking for work. After a few months, they can bring in their spouse or find a spouse here. Since any baby born in the USA is automatically a US citizen, it gives immigrants a stimulus to give birth here. Our birth rate therefore is rather steady at 2.4 kids per family. The 0% growth rate is 2.0 kids per family, so population growth is steady. In fact, the population doubling rate is somewhere in the neighborhood of 74 years.

It's interesting to note the disparities in different parts of the country, however. California, which gets the lion's share of immigrants, is one of the youngest states in the US. Pennsylvania, however, is the 2nd-oldest state after Florida, and the number of childrens is far below the national average. Without immigration, US population growth would be barely above Western Europe.

[Heresson]

I have a question. Some western countries, incl. Sweden, have a reasonably high (which means; not extremly low) birthrate. But aren't those children borning the children of immigrants mostly?

[KrazyHorse]

The USA has far higher levels of immigration than nations in Western Europe

This is just plain false, AFAIK.