Economically speaking the more abrupt the population shrinkage the worse the few young people will have it because of the extreme imbalance of retired vs working population
this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2025
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Since the industrial revolution, fossil fuels were the only affordable energy sources that could meet the demand of industrialized countries. Until 5-10 years ago.
We're now in a situation where most people can still pretend that climate change isn't serious, and the fossil fuel lobby is stronger than ever. And yet over 90% of new electricity generation is already renewable, because it has simply become cheaper than coal and gas power in the last years.
As climate impacts worsen, the pressure to decarbonize will only get larger. The lobbies have been fighting tooth and nail against the energy transition for over 40 years, but they are rapidly loosing ground now in most countries.
It's right to be alarmed about climate change, there will be serious long-term impacts, but it seems irrational to be completely fatalistic. Just comparing the battery prices and solar panel prices and ev market with 10 years ago reveals a truly massive shift. And this is just the beginning of the energy transition.
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I do, but I also acknowledge that I may be wrong, and that the parents are free to make their own choices.
More grist for the mill.
I don’t. We all have to deal with the pain of existence.
Yes
Partly yes.
If I could choose, I would take 10 years earlier than I was actually born.
At least I could have experienced the early internet for longer.
Yes, I felt a deep-seated disappointment when my siblings or friends announced their pregnancy. People like to spout the cliche that every generation is born into crisis but the conditions this one is inheriting are particularly dire.
No. I felt sorry for people born yesterday, but I think today's kids will be OK.
Not sure about tomorrow, though. :P
I used to.
Kids have never been something I never saw myself having. I have nephews and nieces and I used to worry about them.
They’ve grown up a bit and the kids are actually doing alright. In my family they are all loved and they’re well behaved kids.
They’re getting proper diagnoses and treatment for their adhd that my brothers and I probably should have gotten as kids. Instead we all got countless detentions and suspensions in school.
School these days is kind of a mess, but my nieces and nephews all have parents who step in and help. The biggest thing for one who was getting bullied was switching schools, it was a total 180 in his life after leaving that environment.
The omnipresent tech and AI stuff is a mess too. I think having involved and caring parents helps a lot with that. It’s harder to fall into the traps when you have good examples in life. Hopefully that keeps up.
As for money/job prospects that was a huge concern when I was coming of age too. 2008 fucked everything up. This too shall pass the youth job market has always been tough for the last 25 years. They’ll figure it out with a bit of help. They’re not doomed here. As long as there are people there will be needs to fill.
I do worry about the climate. I don’t know how to help with that. I try to do good but it’s beyond my control to stop. All we can do is try to mitigate and adapt.
I definitely would not want a child now. I believe the uncertainty of the speed of climate change and the global suffering that comes with it all would be a terrible burden for everyone.
nope
Yeah. It is like a kid being born in the 1930's.
No, I try to keep in mind that most situations are transient and I don't really know what people born today are going to be dealing with.
Climate change looks pretty bad for people going into the future, don't want to discount or downplay that. But other things, from the terrible political trends and hatred to wars to failed or booming economies will ebb and flow over lifetimes, and it's hard to say in many ways if the future holds better or worse for today's children.
Yup.