How’s that for Republican click bait? However, I am not exaggerating, and here is why:
The driving force behind everything I write about the future of capitalism is our undeniable trend towards global population decline. By some estimates that will be circa 2050, globally, but as we know many individual countries are already experiencing it.
When natural birth rates are below replacement levels, immigration is the answer. In racist countries like Hungary, who basically don’t have immigration, their future looks dire. In other lands with healthy immigration, they can postpone their degrowth for quite a while. Obviously not every country can gain immigrants if the global population is reducing…
Did I just say dire? Here’s the thing – our current form of capitalism does not work without growth, and population growth fuels that. It is a primary reason why the governments of countries like the US and Australia choose to have steady, balanced immigration.
Racism is bad for a country’s immediate capitalistic future if that means fewer people are living in their country each year, because of an intolerance for immigration of people with different cultural backgrounds and skin colors.
But racism can save capitalism, by asking one of the questions that rarely gets asked about capitalism.
Here’s the plan:
- Start a political party that focuses on population and sustainability. Australia currently has the Sustainable Australia party. Some people think it is thinly disguised racism, but they say they want to limit immigration for more noble reasons.
- Get immigration discussed in political debates. Get this question out there, and repeatedly, doggedly, ask it: Why Do We Need Immigration? What Purpose Does It Serve?
- The only expected response, hopefully from a prominent government official, is that we need immigration to drive economic growth.
- Then we can ask part 2, giving us 30 years to find a solution. What Will Happen To Capitalism When We Have Negative Population Growth?