Mark Steyn, whose wisdom and intellect are not yet legendary but should be, has some things to say about Europe's practically non-existent birthrate:
I recently had a conversation with an EU official who, apropos a controversial proposal to tout the Continent's religious heritage in the new constitution, kept using the phrase "Europe's post-Christian future". The evidence suggests that, once you reach the post-Christian stage, you don't have much of a future. Luke, a man of faith and a man of science, could have told them that.
His exposition of Luke 1 at the beginning of the article is accurate and perceptive. Steyn consistently reminds the public about some uncomfortable truths, among them that kids are essential to a functioning society and not ornamental. Europe (and Japan) is embarking on a dangerous experiment: having massively expensive social programs and expecting immigrants and the young to shoulder the cost. That the fiscal numbers don't add up does not seem to bother them too much.
My personal opinion is that the European Union is nothing more than a continent-wide suicide pact, designed to ensure that Europeans can live comfortably at the state's expense as they contracept and abort themselves into oblivion. Look at Europe's birthrates and tell me that's incorrect.
Actually he isn't Jewish -- he just has one of those names that could be Jewish. Actually, he is of Jewish descent, but was baptized a Catholic and is now a Baptist.
http://www.marksteyn.com/index2.cfm?edit_id=32
Just so you know!
Noted, and the entry has been changed to reflect that. Your diligence has earned you a special place in Catholic Light's Commenters' Hall of Fame.
...plus I changed the spelling of "Eurpean."
Social Security, for better or worse, is a way to make sure that my children will subsidize you if you don't have any. A good idea if you are like Elizabeth and Zacharias (I mean before John) but a bad one if you simply don't want to be bothered....