Fabio Manganiello on Nostr: Putin’s obsession with birth rates in Russia has touched unprecedented heights. ...
Putin’s obsession with birth rates in Russia has touched unprecedented heights.
Yes, Russia has a demographic problem that needs to be solved. Its population is already shrinking at an early rate of ~0.4%, and if things go on at this rate it may lose > 10 millon people by 2050.
The quickest solution may be to simply end the war in Ukraine.
A likely estimate of those who have died or have been wounded so far on the Russian side is ~500K/600K.
That’s about 8% of the Russian population between the age of 20 and 30.
Those are all folks that could have started a family, but have been called to the front to fight Putin’s war instead. And that number only takes into account the wounded and killed - not those who are still fighting on the field instead of starting a family. Nor those who have deserted or migrated since the beginning of the war.
Let the boys go back home, and that worringly thin slice at the base of the demographic pyramid (those in the 0-4 age bracket) will fatten.
The next best solution is to solve Russian men’s problem with alcohol. Russian women’s life expectancy is about in line with those of other Western countries (79.2). Russian’s men life expectancy however (67.5) is more similar to the life expectancy of men in Yemen, Senegal and Eritrea. A Russian man in average lives 12 years less than a woman. An American man has a 1-in-11 chance of dying before his 55th birthday. In Russia it’s a 1-in-4 chance. And the main reason, according to multiple studies, it’s alcohol - it’s not just a stereotype. Make sure that your male population isn’t soaked in vodka by the age of 25, and maybe they don’t die of cirrhosis before their kid goes to high school. And they may even have higher chances at reproduction in the first place.
Unfortunately, the efforts to reduce alcohol consumption in Russia by taxing it more didn’t work in the past (ask Gorbacev for details). Alcohol is such a great source of revenue for the Russian government that any attempts to limit consumption in the past ended up with damaging the economy.
So does Putin propose to start diversifying the sources of revenue of his country? Maybe by making it more service-oriented and making its industry more competitive, instead of relying on fossil fuels and alcohol taxes for more than half of the State budget?
Does he propose to end his dumb war in Ukraine so the young men can come back home and start a family?
Of course not.
He’s just doing what he does best. Restrict freedom of speech even more, blame all the hell he’s brought on his own country on foreign influence and propaganda, and push a new law that punishes “childfree propaganda and values” (???) with fines up to $50K.
I’m curious of what’s his definition of “childfree propaganda”.
I guess that everything related to the LGBTQ+ universe is automatically “childfree propaganda”?
I guess that a seminar that gives women the instruments to be more impactful in the workforce and boost their career would also be “childfree propaganda”, as the stereotype goes that a woman who focuses on her career is likely to spend less time at home?
I guess that even advertising condoms, or helping carrying out abortions, may be considered “childfree propaganda”?
I guess that even a course of self-defense for women to knock out their abusive men after their 3rd bottle of vodka may be considered “childfree propaganda”?
Russia may be a great country, if only it didn’t have such an absolute human scum to rule it.
https://tass.com/politics/1857453
Yes, Russia has a demographic problem that needs to be solved. Its population is already shrinking at an early rate of ~0.4%, and if things go on at this rate it may lose > 10 millon people by 2050.
The quickest solution may be to simply end the war in Ukraine.
A likely estimate of those who have died or have been wounded so far on the Russian side is ~500K/600K.
That’s about 8% of the Russian population between the age of 20 and 30.
Those are all folks that could have started a family, but have been called to the front to fight Putin’s war instead. And that number only takes into account the wounded and killed - not those who are still fighting on the field instead of starting a family. Nor those who have deserted or migrated since the beginning of the war.
Let the boys go back home, and that worringly thin slice at the base of the demographic pyramid (those in the 0-4 age bracket) will fatten.
The next best solution is to solve Russian men’s problem with alcohol. Russian women’s life expectancy is about in line with those of other Western countries (79.2). Russian’s men life expectancy however (67.5) is more similar to the life expectancy of men in Yemen, Senegal and Eritrea. A Russian man in average lives 12 years less than a woman. An American man has a 1-in-11 chance of dying before his 55th birthday. In Russia it’s a 1-in-4 chance. And the main reason, according to multiple studies, it’s alcohol - it’s not just a stereotype. Make sure that your male population isn’t soaked in vodka by the age of 25, and maybe they don’t die of cirrhosis before their kid goes to high school. And they may even have higher chances at reproduction in the first place.
Unfortunately, the efforts to reduce alcohol consumption in Russia by taxing it more didn’t work in the past (ask Gorbacev for details). Alcohol is such a great source of revenue for the Russian government that any attempts to limit consumption in the past ended up with damaging the economy.
So does Putin propose to start diversifying the sources of revenue of his country? Maybe by making it more service-oriented and making its industry more competitive, instead of relying on fossil fuels and alcohol taxes for more than half of the State budget?
Does he propose to end his dumb war in Ukraine so the young men can come back home and start a family?
Of course not.
He’s just doing what he does best. Restrict freedom of speech even more, blame all the hell he’s brought on his own country on foreign influence and propaganda, and push a new law that punishes “childfree propaganda and values” (???) with fines up to $50K.
I’m curious of what’s his definition of “childfree propaganda”.
I guess that everything related to the LGBTQ+ universe is automatically “childfree propaganda”?
I guess that a seminar that gives women the instruments to be more impactful in the workforce and boost their career would also be “childfree propaganda”, as the stereotype goes that a woman who focuses on her career is likely to spend less time at home?
I guess that even advertising condoms, or helping carrying out abortions, may be considered “childfree propaganda”?
I guess that even a course of self-defense for women to knock out their abusive men after their 3rd bottle of vodka may be considered “childfree propaganda”?
Russia may be a great country, if only it didn’t have such an absolute human scum to rule it.
https://tass.com/politics/1857453