Support NeoGAF

[Ellery]

What a weird coincidence that this happens right at the time where unemployment is extremely low, where a lot of job offerings are open, where everybody has to raise wages because they can't find people and everyone demanding wage raises, because inflation is completely through the roof.
The Baby Boomers are retiring and the new/future workforce won't be as big, because of decades of declining birth rates and demographic changes.

So from that perspective it makes sense that the rich would want there to be more babies. More people so they can keep wages low. More people to take credits.
Instead of that the opposite is happening atm and will accelerate in the future. Even worse in some countries like japan and italy (many european states) where the average age is even higher and the birthrate lower. The able workforce in 5-20 years to come will be comparatively small and they can ask for a lot more money for their work. The rich hate that.

 

[GymWolf]

No thanks.

What's the next advice? Get married?

 

[Javthusiast]

They are annoying, take years away from your precious free time and cost you a lot of money. Never in my life wanted any, never will.

Japan should really have more kids though. Their birthrates are declining hard and we need new talent to make cool manga and anime, games etc. And most importantly new jav stars.

 

[Thicc Enigma]

Well he isn't wrong. It's been a while for me so I might not pull out doing great things already

 

[Tams]

Wait, you think the idiots at resetera are getting laid? and didn't you use to be one of the more prolific posters there?

Ahahaha! Busted!

 

[Trogdor1123]

Got three of the little fuckers! Absolutely the best things in my life.

I think society needs to make it easier to have kids. We need to get back to a world where families can live happily in a single wage. It’s not happening but it should. I just think we need to turn the clock back a bit.

 

[*Nightwing]

Hahahahahhahahahahanaha!!! Sure Elon!! You pay for them and lose the sleep raising them and I’ll do my part to impregnate as much as I can. instead being a mechanism of modern control since society is built so you cannot comfortably raise a family on a single average wage and try fear mongering people into it, put your mother fucking money where your mouth is and put your enormous intellect and vast wealth into subsidizing child care for all the average parents that struggle on the daily just getting the bare necessities instead of spouting nonsensical bullshit

 

[chromhound]

He need more workers for his facilities

 

[GloveSlap]

A huge part of the problem is that real estate (along with healthcare) is way too damn expensive. You need room to raise a family, and if you can manage to work hard enough to afford it you probably don't have much time left over to actually raise the kids.

I don't know what the answer is either. Might need to make some hard choices like barring foreign investments or limiting how much property someone can own.

 

[nkarafo]

Sure, Elon, provide a mate and enough money and ill do it.

 

[KAL2006]

I think here in the UK it's mainly due to affordability. in the old days ony 1 person had to work in a marriage while another person raises the kids, make sure the food is made and the house is clean. Now 2 people need to work and after work your exhausted and still need to clean the house, make food and look after the child. So something had to take the hit at these unaffordable times, insert Jordan fuck them kids gif.

 

[Enjay]

Not enough people? Ha! Clearly he doesn't count the poor.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Easy to have 7 kids when you're a billionaire.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Not enough people? Ha! Clearly he doesn't count the poor.

LOL.

Environmentalist: We need less people in the world so our resources dont get used up

CEO of giant company: We need more people in the world to increase our customer base

 

[DragoonKain]

Can he make us all android girlfriends and boyfriends who can reproduce?

 

[haxan7]

Can he make us all android girlfriends and boyfriends who can reproduce?

I wouldn’t mind having one of those if I can just put her back in the closet after I bust my nut. Sure beats listening to one talk all the time and dealing with her problems, hopes, goals, needs, etc.

 

[mindfreak191]

Naah I’m good. My wife and I recently changed our minds, when you think about it it’s basically giving up all of the freedom we gained and taking a huge financial hit, not to mentioned that I don’t wish growing up in these times to my worst enemies. I’m fine, I’ll live, I’ll die, I’m no royalty that needs to leave an heir behind.

 

[Yoda]

He's not wrong, but there's no modern country that has managed to reverse the trend of: becoming developed -> birth rates falling.

It's basket of issues but generally:

• More women enter the workforce -> kids generally prohibit career growth (note: I'm not claiming this is a negative, just a factor)
• Couples wait longer to have children:
  • Career impact = less money -> thus must be financially stable
    • Daycare is expensive
    • Saving for college is expensive
    • Medical costs related to the baby itself are expensive
  • Housing near decent metro areas (job centers) are prohibitively expensive
  • Lower fertility for women who waited, esp past 35 -> more chances of baby health issues and/or not being able to get pregnant at all
• Earning power of men has gone down considerably over the years, women in the same age cohort of men w/the same education out-earn them -> women generally will NOT partner w/someone who makes less money than them -> math doesn't work out there for generating couples.

Some of the policy issues are disjoint from each other such as housing (NIMBY, supply issues) vs. men's earning power. Others are related: men's earning power vs. more women taking on higher status jobs -> shrinks the pool of acceptable spouses -> lower chances of finding a spouse.

By the time a country acknowledges it has a demographic problem (too many old people), it's too late to fix it. Assuming you could change the birth rate, it'll be 20 years before those babies are productive to society. A good example of this is Japan post mid 80s, they've had stagnant economic growth for more than 3 decades and if you look at other east asian countries or most European countries, you'll see a similar demographic problem. Countries like the U.S. and Canada only keep their population stable (not growing) is via immigration.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

I'm sure he will make more money if there are more people. They can all live in misery, it would be good for a person in charge of a major corporation. Things somewhat going dark ages because there is a smaller next generation, that wouldn't keep the engine running. An engine that benefits him.

 

[haxan7]

None of the reasons in this thread people have given are good enough to not have kids. If you want to do it, you can find a way. It's up to us as men to have some balls and nut out some little spuds.

 

[*Nightwing]

Fuck that shit. Be a real man, show self discipline and self control and pull out and bust that load anywhere but inside her lovely vagina. Real men have dick control

 

[Porcile]

Absolutely no chance. Just enjoy civilisation while it is still here and let nature take its course on humanity.

 

[Doom85]

Seriously, I’d rather be happy and in charge of my life instead of dedicated to a kid(s) I didn’t want in the first place. To people who want kids, more power to you, but don’t get in people’s business who don’t want them.

 

[haxan7]

Seriously, I’d rather be happy and in charge of my life instead of dedicated to a kid(s) I didn’t want in the first place. To people who want kids, more power to you, but don’t get in people’s business who don’t want them.

What a narcissist. No one gives a shit about you do as an individual. The commentary is on society at large.

Contrary to popular opinion, the world doesn't revolve around you.

 

[Doom85]

What a narcissist. No one gives a shit about you do as an individual. The commentary is on society at large.

Contrary to popular opinion, the world doesn't revolve around you.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

He's not wrong, but there's no modern country that has managed to reverse the trend of: becoming developed -> birth rates falling.

It's basket of issues but generally:

• More women enter the workforce -> kids generally prohibit career growth (note: I'm not claiming this is a negative, just a factor)
• Couples wait longer to have children:
  • Career impact = less money -> thus must be financially stable
    • Daycare is expensive
    • Saving for college is expensive
    • Medical costs related to the baby itself are expensive
  • Housing near decent metro areas (job centers) are prohibitively expensive
  • Lower fertility for women who waited, esp past 35 -> more chances of baby health issues and/or not being able to get pregnant at all
• Earning power of men has gone down considerably over the years, women in the same age cohort of men w/the same education out-earn them -> women generally will NOT partner w/someone who makes less money than them -> math doesn't work out there for generating couples.

Some of the policy issues are disjoint from each other such as housing (NIMBY, supply issues) vs. men's earning power. Others are related: men's earning power vs. more women taking on higher status jobs -> shrinks the pool of acceptable spouses -> lower chances of finding a spouse.

By the time a country acknowledges it has a demographic problem (too many old people), it's too late to fix it. Assuming you could change the birth rate, it'll be 20 years before those babies are productive to society. A good example of this is Japan post mid 80s, they've had stagnant economic growth for more than 3 decades and if you look at other east asian countries or most European countries, you'll see a similar demographic problem. Countries like the U.S. and Canada only keep their population stable (not growing) is via immigration.

Agreed.

But I think there's also some more basic factors.

1. People in richer countries are more responsible popping kids

2. People have access to contraceptives

3. People in richer countries have more things to do. There's more things to buy and enjoy than popping kids and being bored in a shitty home with a shitty job. People only have so much money to spend on themselves and kids. If someone has money to spend, people in richer countries would probably say they'd rather save money and spend it on travel, or buying OLED tvs and BMWs than spending it all on more kids. Maybe 1-2 kids is ok, but forget it popping 5 kids even though they got the money

If anything, you'd think on the surface richer people should mean more kids because if they got money to float paying for day care and college and never having to worry about kids suffering in a broke family, why not have more kids because more the merrier? But it's the opposite

 

[Ikutachi]

He's not wrong when it comes to native people of developed countries.

 

[Amiga]

This is Musk's plot to turn Earth into Coruscant.

 

[Mossybrew]

I'm sorry for you childless losers. Thousands of years of genes, humans who lived and died and kept it going, only for you to be a gigantic fuckup who couldn't get laid, or succumbed to stupid brainworms like "OMG how can afford?" Yep you failures can be pruned from your genetic line and in a hundred years you might as well have never existed. Meanwhile my children, in addition to being fucking amazing human beings that enrich my life in ways I cannot put into words, will carry a part of me into the future as a part of the human experience, a link in the chain of the ultimate expression of life on this planet. But I guess you childless nubs can enjoy your dogs or whatever and pretend they are family.

 

[Kerotan]

So why doesn't he have 1000 kids? He can afford it. Do your part Elon. Build that army!

 

[evolvaer]

I'm sorry for you childless losers. Thousands of years of genes, humans who lived and died and kept it going, only for you to be a gigantic fuckup who couldn't get laid, or succumbed to stupid brainworms like "OMG how can afford?" Yep you failures can be pruned from your genetic line and in a hundred years you might as well have never existed. Meanwhile my children, in addition to being fucking amazing human beings that enrich my life in ways I cannot put into words, will carry a part of me into the future as a part of the human experience, a link in the chain of the ultimate expression of life on this planet. But I guess you childless nubs can enjoy your dogs or whatever and pretend they are family.

This is what we in psychology call displaced aggression. This guy's life is so miserable with kids he has to take the misery that is his child support and project it onto us.

Ok bruh, you enjoy being carried into the future with your peak human experience, we'll be over here having a good life.

 

[Pidull]

Condoms off, boys.

Elon Musk says 'civilization is going to crumble' if people don't have more children

The tech billionaire said low and rapidly declining birth rates are "one of the biggest risks to civilization."

www.cnbc.com

Solution Elon:

Offer $20,000 to fiercely independent ladies who are willing to be inseminated by your billionaire blood. No child support, just $20k.

Spend two thirds of your wealth and add
10 million babies to the population. Cuck 10 million men. Die knowing you alone caused the greatest baby boom by a single person (legend). Men make millions of sperm a day so it should only require a few weeks to pull off.

 

[Mossybrew]

This is what we in psychology call displaced aggression. This guy's life is so miserable with kids he has to take the misery that is his child support and project it onto us.

Ok bruh, you enjoy being carried into the future with your peak human experience, we'll be over here having a good life.

That is a really strange take that says more about you than me. Miserable? Where do you read that into my post? Project much?

 

[Mossybrew]

My son just came down from his room, we went out and looked at the moon. We hugged, as we do often, and in the back of my mind I still remember him as this little guy, so fragile, but now he's an inch taller than me, wide shouldered dude, can be quick to anger when I'm beating him at Magic, but he's actually a sensitive soul.

 

[Mossybrew]

 

[Mossybrew]

Look at that lil dude playing Smash back in the day. He is bigger than me now. He was also playing the original Halo at this age. I shit you not. We have had some fun times!

 

[Kamina]

At first I thought this was another of his Twitter Post.
Posting stuff like that on Twitter would be the same as shouting it down the basement stars.

 

[GeorgioCostanzaX]

Then there’s the problem of affordability. If you want to have a cool job in a fun industry like tech or marketing or media or gaming you pretty much have to live in SF, LA or NYC which means dual income is almost a must and therefore daycare and the cost of housing. 1 kid is great but I feel like we’d be broke emotionally and financially with 2.

 

[Enjay]

Very scary when whole countries aren't reproducing at least a replacement rate. It only takes 1 generation.Italy, Japan. They're screwed. Yet the climate doomsayers coming fresh out of a Disneyland trip will say the world is overpopulated and hey, maybe the virus is good. (i've heard my own family say this) It is the dumbest take, also the easiest to disprove.

Not gonna lie until I can go into a sonic's or chick-fil-a and just be in and out without any hassle I won't be caring about this problem.

 

[Coolwhhip]

When a society becomes so wealthy there are no real challenges left, this is what seems to happen. Everyone only cares about their short term happiness and as a result is miserable. Some posts in this thread are very clear proof of that.

I'm sure the collapse will happen, then everyone will panic and governments will put in incentives to make children. Or maybe it will happen by itself once computers take so many of our jobs that everyone will just start families out of boredom.

 

[Doom85]

I'm sorry for you childless losers. Thousands of years of genes, humans who lived and died and kept it going, only for you to be a gigantic fuckup who couldn't get laid, or succumbed to stupid brainworms like "OMG how can afford?" Yep you failures can be pruned from your genetic line and in a hundred years you might as well have never existed. Meanwhile my children, in addition to being fucking amazing human beings that enrich my life in ways I cannot put into words, will carry a part of me into the future as a part of the human experience, a link in the chain of the ultimate expression of life on this planet. But I guess you childless nubs can enjoy your dogs or whatever and pretend they are family.

Mossybrew 20 years from now: Man, I really showed those fuckers on Gaf what’s what for DARING to enjoy life in a way different from me. How dare they be happy in a way unique from my own. Anyway, son, how many kids do you plan on having?
Mossybrew’s son: Oh, I don’t really want to have kids, dad. I mean, that’s fine, right? There’s so many wonderful aspects of life besides just having kids.
Mossybrew:

 

[GeorgPrime]

Condoms off, boys.

Elon Musk says 'civilization is going to crumble' if people don't have more children

The tech billionaire said low and rapidly declining birth rates are "one of the biggest risks to civilization."

www.cnbc.com

Less people, more space, less people to annoy you, more freedom.

 

[Doom85]

Less people, more space, less people to annoy you, more freedom.

 

[darrylgorn]

As someone who already has two kids that are precious to me, I still wouldn't recommend having kids unless you are fit to do so.

This isn't about money. It's about your passion to spend time and effort to groom another human being.

Don't do it unless you have the means and really want to.

 

[Aesius]

As someone who already has two kids that are precious to me, I still wouldn't recommend having kids unless you are fit to do so.

This isn't about money. It's about your passion to spend time and effort to groom another human being.

Don't do it unless you have the means and really want to.

Agreed. I only have 1 and it’s tough. I’m struggling hard with the decision to have another.

I love my son but now that I have a kid, it’s weird to think about willingly and knowingly creating another life. The whole “he needs a sibling” thing is also bizarre. I understand the sentiment but WTF, I’m supposed to spawn another life just so my son can have a sibling?

It’s doubly weird to think of that as a younger sibling. Was I born solely for my brother’s benefit?!

 

[Rodger Dodger]

"I've been screaming about the population problem for 3 specials now."

 

[The Pleasure]

They are annoying, take years away from your precious free time and cost you a lot of money. Never in my life wanted any, never will.

Japan should really have more kids though. Their birthrates are declining hard and we need new talent to make cool manga and anime, games etc. And most importantly new jav stars.

I'm totally about that YAMATE lifestyle.

 

[The Pleasure]

So musk wants more of this

 

[MilkLizard]

He’s a dumbass

 

[SegaShack]

I'm sorry for you childless losers. Thousands of years of genes, humans who lived and died and kept it going, only for you to be a gigantic fuckup who couldn't get laid, or succumbed to stupid brainworms like "OMG how can afford?" Yep you failures can be pruned from your genetic line and in a hundred years you might as well have never existed. Meanwhile my children, in addition to being fucking amazing human beings that enrich my life in ways I cannot put into words, will carry a part of me into the future as a part of the human experience, a link in the chain of the ultimate expression of life on this planet. But I guess you childless nubs can enjoy your dogs or whatever and pretend they are family.

Wow. How full of yourself can you get? Why do you care if someone has kids or not. You must have some underlying issue with being a parent to be this aggressive.