Aging (and shrinking) populations

is this real? as China looks like a Pagoda and India the Taj Mahal

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They’re both fairly lopsided… way more boys than girls. At least until you get into very old ages.

Reversing the one child policy was supposed to help with that. And dowries have fallen substantially. But still…

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I’ve often wondered if China has more sexual violence than they otherwise would because of all these frustrated, surplus males

I don’t know but that would not be shocking. :rage::cry:

I do recall reading in The Economist that they had a lot more crime. Having a wife and kid(s) to support makes crime a more risky prospect for a young man than if you’re on your own. So when the wife was selectively aborted or infanticided instead of being born and raised and married off… that incentive to not be a crook disappears.

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Also, since boys were so much more highly valued than girls, this was an entirely predictable result.

I often wonder what would have happened if they’d set the limit differently. The culture used to be “have many sons”. But now it’s shifted to “have one kid that you sink all of your energy into”. So even with the repeal of one-child, most couples are still only having one kid.

If instead of “one child” they’d initially made it “one boy” there would undoubtedly be a lot more girls / women running around.

I don’t know how much to trust this data

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Check the USA one. It looks like The Statue of Liberty.

I was doing a deep dive into Korea and found this interesting. It gives a clear idea of what to expect from aging communities.

Some local communities have tried to turn closed schools into facilities for the elderly, who make up a majority in these rural towns.

Three middle schools in Boeun County, South Chungcheong, closed in 2011.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is funding a project to build homes for the elderly, a type of so-called “silver town,” where the three schools used to be.

ETA: It just hit me. Are we witnessing the slow death of a nation?

iirc, Japan already shrank before South Korea has. I’ve been watching as some very odd re-uses have been made of old schools.

In one case, an artist has made life-sized dolls … never mind, here is an article from over a decade ago:

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Conveniently China does not report rape statistics

However I would like to point out that china is a fairly low crime country (most stats support this) and if you’ve ever been to china I think you would agree you feel much safer than here in any major US city

unless you want think for yourself

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That makes sense. It was probably the increase in crime that The Economist was commenting on.

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Everyone who has undergone re-education has spoke highly of their experience

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/u-s-deaths-expected-to-outpace-births-within-the-decade-9c949de8?mod=hp_lead_pos11

A report just came out that China’s population shrank for the third year in a row. China ended the one child policy at the end of 2015. Apart from a small bump in 2016 and 2017, the number of births has plummeted since -

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On a related note, recently reported by the UN, the world has passed ‘peak child’. It looks like it happened just before 2017.

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This is just my own observation. I have met many Chinese people working in Africa on the belt and road initiatives since like 2009. They mostly have at most one child even when they are away from China long term. I have never asked why out of fear of being impolite but it’s something I wonder about given that most African cultures prefer more kids to less.

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