This
is another result of the ever declining
birth rate. Not enough young workers
to support a growing elderly population.
So what will governments resort to?
One is raising retirement age levels,
so older people still work. Another
is euthanasia. Just get rid of the older
people. Whatever it is, the demographic
crisis is already here. Expect catastrophic
social, political and economic consequences.
The thing is, if the First World nations
want to commit national suicide, why
are they forcing us poorer nations to
join them? They just cannot get rid
of their colonial, oppressive and unjust
ways. But more than that, it is Satan
at work. Unfortunately many people and
nations are right there assisting him.
The Philippines is the final battleground.
Resist the anti-life and anti-family
forces converging on our land, pushing
reproductive health and valueless sex
education. Reject the contraceptive
mentality. Continue to have large families.
Work hard to renew the family and defend
life.
European
Countries Pushing Retirement Age Ever
Higher
By
Thaddeus M. Baklinski
COLOGNE,
August 13, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com)
- The chief economist with the Cologne
Institute for Economic Research (IW),
a German conservative economic think
tank, said that low
birth rates and growing life expectancy
will lead to requiring citizens to work
until they are 70 before they can qualify
for pensions.
Michael
Huether told the German daily newspaper
Rheinische Post on Wednesday that current
plans to raise the retirement age to
67 might not go far enough to alleviate
the growing demographic crisis of falling
birth rates and aging populations.
"When
we look at rising life expectancy and
declining birth rates in Germany, a
retirement age of 70 must be considered,"
said Huether.
"We
should not stop raising the pension
in 2029, but instead continue with it
afterwards."
In
2007, the German government decided
to increase the legal retirement age
from 65 to 67 incrementally from 2012
through 2029.
Deutsche
Welle reported that the political lobby
group Sozialverband Deutschland (SoVD)
condemned Huether's idea as "summer
madness" and that a rise in the
pension age from 65 would be an "effective
pension cut."
Similarly,
France has undertaken controversial
legislation to change the French pension
system and raise the retirement age
to 62 from 60.
French
Labor Minister Eric Woerth presented
the bill to the cabinet in mid-June
and then delivered it to the National
Assembly. Voting is expected to take
place in September.
AFP
reported that the draft law is unpopular
and that unions are determined to oppose
the pension reform plan.
"The
risk of social unrest after the summer
holidays has not been dissipated,"
said Dominique Barbet, a BNP Paribas
analyst, according to AFP.
Social
upheaval and economic decline as the
result of shrinking and aging populations
have been explored by researchers and
exposed in documentaries, notably "Demographic
Winter: the decline of the human family"
and its sequel "Demographic Bomb:
demography is destiny."
The
phrase "demographic
winter" refers to the contemporary
phenomenon of a worldwide rapid decline
in birthrates. The documentaries make
a forceful case that the loss of millions
due to population control efforts has
meant an irreplaceable loss of millions
of producers and consumers who otherwise
would be participating and supporting
today's global economy.
"'Demographic
Winter' predicted the financial crash
of 2008 to within 12 months. 'Demographic
Bomb' reveals how this is just the beginning,"
warned McLerran.
"We
are headed toward a demographic winter
which threatens to have catastrophic
social and economic consequences,"
said the filmmaker. "The effects
will be severe and long lasting and
are already becoming manifest in much
of Europe."
In
fact, a report released in 2008 by Eurostat,
the European Union's statistical service,
showed that by 2015, the number of deaths
in Europe will have outstripped the
number of births. By 2060, the ratio
of people of working age to those over
age 65 will be two to one.
The
report showed that the growth momentum
of Europe's 27 member states will continue
to carry it until
2035; after this the population will
begin to decline drastically
from a predicted 521 million to 506
million by 2060.
Population
decline is by no means endemic to Europe,
as most "developed" countries
have birth rates far below replacement
levels.
The
Demography Division of Statistics Canada
released a report in May that predicted
that the number of seniors will surpass
the number of children aged 14 or under
in Canada for the first time ever sometime
between 2015 and 2021.
The
StatsCan population projections for
2009 to 2036 say that Canada's population
will age rapidly until 2031, by which
time the entire baby boom generation
will have turned 65.
See
related LSN articles:
New Documentary Exposes Link Between
Failing Global Economy and Demographic
Winter
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09063011.html
New
Stats: Europe Facing Demographic Winter,
Growing Political, Economic Tensions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082906.html
Germany
Faces Economic Downturn with Plummeting
Birth Rate and Aging Population
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/nov/09112010.html
"For
to me to live is Christ, and to die
is gain." (Phil 1:21)