Most of the time when people say they have an unpopular opinion, it turns out it’s actually pretty popular.

Do you have some that’s really unpopular and most likely will get you downvoted?

    • @[email protected]
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      411 months ago

      I’m in the same boat and my answer is very egocentric: I like the way life works around here: High standards for most things that are related to engineering and its applications, relative freedom to do what I like, same for everybody else, no matter the gender, a certain amount of caring for each other while ignoring each other’s quirks, at least in my rural corner of the country.

      I don’t think all of this is going to survive a large influx of people from countries that work differently and I don’t like that idea.

      We will need that influx though, to keep our age pyramid somewhat intact and we will get that influx because people are drawn to the higher standard of living and pushed by effects of climate change in their old homes. The only thing that could prevent that would be to have more humans raised along our existing line of values.

    • @[email protected]
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      111 months ago

      For a whole host of reasons. In summary, quality of life for those remaining is going to crater, together with some form of social collapse.

      1. Most social insurances (e.g. pensions and welfare) depend on young, healthy, working people paying for those in need. As the population pyramid gets inverted, eventually this will become completely unsustainable. Meaning those who are young now will not be able to benefit from a pension in the future.
      2. Health care costs are going to soar to unsustainable levels. To some extend, this has already happened. Again, old people tend to require health care a lot more frequently - even permanently, usually- than young people. As the population pyramid gets inverted, this means ever fewer young people have to care for ever more sick people. As an example, my country estimates that by 2050 we’ll need to spend 40% of GDP and 1 in 3 working people on health care if we want to keep the service level at today’s standards. That’s of course completely unrealistic. To some extent this is already starting to deteriorate.
      3. Ever fewer people will have to maintain essential services. Think sanitation, sewage, construction, rail services and so on. Again, unsustainable.
      4. The gerontocracy will mean society will become increasingly inflexible, rigid, and stuck in the past. Young people drive change, old people like to keep things as they are. Opinions don’t usually change. Instead, they die one funeral at a time.
      5. The economic challenges caused by an aging population will require tough choices. But with the gerontocracy, such choices will likely not be made. Or they will only be passed on to next generations (who get no say in the matter, as they will be too small a voting bloc). Ultimately this will necessarily lead to some form of social collapse.