Culture is the linchpin in solutions to fertility decline
In developed, gender egalitarian, globalized countries, children are no neither necessary for survival nor a product of limited birth control access/education, meaning the one reason why people have children—and especially children at or above replacement rate, comes down to culture.
Unfortunately, we live in an age in which many inherited cultures are losing resilience and members in the face of modernity. Taking their place is an organically evolved memetic set we refer to as the urban monoculture—a homogenous modern culture that neither motivates reproduction nor is particularly good at producing human flourishing (consider the rising youth mental health crisis as exhibit one).
It is therefore crucial to (1) protect resilient high-fertility cultures that also produce human flourishing, (2) reinforce inherited cultures that are uniquely vulnerable to the urban monoculture, and (3) develop means of creating new, high-fertility cultures that are good for society.
Culture is the software that makes our biological hardware work in complex societies. We can’t just delete it and expect to be OK.
Get Involved in Culture Crafting
We invite you to join the discourse we’re cultivating around culture or work on crafting a resilient post-prosperity/modernity culture yourself (or invest in making your inherited culture more resilient). We regularly host conversations related to culture crafting on our podcast Based Camp and wrote a practical guide to crafting culture that provides a helpful jumping off point.
