Elon Musk is not the Pope, but the world’s richest man has a lot to think about, ladies and gentlemen. He has an uphill task of saving humanity, mostly from itself. While on the one hand, he’s working on his SpaceX mission to colonise Mars, potentially as a Planet B (and littering the sky with sattelite debris); on the other hand, he’s worried that by that time, humans would f- each other out of existence.
Population collapse. That’s what worries Elon Musk. It’s not the first time that Musk has spoken about the apocalypse of a global population collapse. It seems like he’s screaming about it on Twitter in desperation any time he can.
We should be much more worried about population collapse
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 18, 2022
He also didn’t miss the opportunity to slam the United Nations while he was at it.
UN projections are utter nonsense. Just multiply last year’s births by life expectancy. Given downward trend in birth rate, that is best case unless reversed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 18, 2022
WHY IS ELON MUSK WORRIED ABOUT THE POPULATION?
Elon Musk is worried by all the reports that the global fertility rate is on the decline and that people are not having enough babies. (You might confuse Elon Musk with the Pope here, given their similar line of worry, but we're talking about the Tech guy from Tesla here.) He also tweeted two reports, one of which said that the US fertility rate – that is the number of children per woman – has fallen below the replacement rate of 2.1.
Replacement rate defines the state where the population remains stable, that is, it doesn’t decline or increase. But a falling rate denotes a decline in population.
BUT ISN’T SHRINKING POPULATION GOOD NEWS?
Some netizens seem to think so.
What is this absolute bullshit I woke up to? Population collapse?! Fuck off.Only a couple years ago we thought we had too many people and an uneven distribution of food and wealth? Now we don't have enough people? We're animals! Who cares!? pic.twitter.com/9K44QM9t8K
— NavJack27_ (Silicon Gang Top 99%) (@Jack_Mangano) January 18, 2022
But not Elon Musk. To be fair, he’s not the only one, there are several researchers and studies who are worried about a declining global population.
While according to the UN, the world population is set to peak by 2100, the current declining rate in developed as well as developing countries including India means that the population will continue to decline after the period.
Musk doesn’t make it clear why shrinking population would be a bad thing, other than the fact that there may not be enough humans to populate Mars. But researchers say it could mean labour shortages in the future, more population of the elderly than the young and a subsequent burden on running the economy.
On the other hand, some netizens think Musk is worried he won’t be able to run his capitalistic machinery as smoothly.
DID ADAM AND EVE WORRY ABOUT POPULATION COLLAPSE? ANSWER: NO! THE ONLY PERSON WORRIED ABOUT POPULATION COLLAPSE IS SOMEONE WHO RELIES ON THE POPULATION TO FUEL ONE'S BUSINESS OR LIVELYHOOD!
— God Luck (@GodLuck42) January 19, 2022
WHAT IS MUSK’S ADVICE?
In this aspect, Elon Musk shares the same thoughts as Pope Francis. The father of seven (Musk, not the Pope) wants people to have more babies to avoid a population collapse, which he thinks will lead to a civilisation collapse.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 19, 2022
He definitely does practice what he preaches.
I’m trying to set a good example! Population collapse is a much bigger problem than people realize and that’s just for Earth.Mars has a great need for people, seeing as population is currently zero.Humans are the custodians of other life on Earth. Let us bring life to Mars!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2021
However, as many pointed out to his absurd request, having more babies isn’t exactly easy for people who are not billionaires.
In order to stop worrying about population collapse, we need to change focus to making America not so fucking difficult to live in. Why’d anyone bring a baby into this world if they have a hard time surviving on their own? https://t.co/6SgdjE5soa
— Thank You (@tkimball98) January 18, 2022
Netizens pointed out how instead of blaming normal people and asking them to have more babies, the world and influential people like Musk should work towards raising the standard of living of common people.
The main reasons for people choosing to have smaller families or no children altogether are due to increased cost of living and leading a life. There are several other factors determining the fall in fertility rate.
Population collapse is potentially the greatest risk to the future of civilizationhttps://t.co/VVN8kElTlS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 27, 2021
Elon Musk first talked about population collapse in 2017 when he replied to a Wall Street Journal report. In 2019, Musk and Chinese billionaire Jack Ma at a joint event also agreed on population collapse. Again, several times in 2021, he brought up the topic.