Since ancient times, humanity has tried to avoid loneliness. It was a ticket to the afterlife, a chance to lose the lottery with death itself. To be outside the community was tantamount to death. But that's not all. Even when gathering in small communities, ancient peoples, who didn't yet speak a language, divided into even smaller social units. In the future, these social units became known as families. For a very long time, right up until the twentieth century, every family had many children, as this was the only way to survive. Foolish or unfortunate children simply didn't survive to adulthood. Natural selection was in full swing, and only the very best members of the family survived. Everyone dreamed of finding a loved one and living a long and happy life with them. Numerous novels celebrated love as the brightest and most natural human emotion and need. However, everything changed. Scientific and technological progress led to an increase in the standard of living in most countries. Mortality rates dropped significantly, and life expectancy increased. A population explosion occurred. The human population increased dramatically. It's unclear exactly who and when first decided to exploit demographics for their own gain. Unfortunately, this has borne fruit, and now, when many are declaring rapid overpopulation of the planet, we are closer than ever to total extinction. What's happening, and who benefits?
The answers to these questions are simultaneously incredibly numerous and yet completely absent. It's impossible to say for sure who will benefit from this, but it's safe to say that such people exist. In the modern world, the role of the family institution is gradually fading. In technologically advanced countries, the rate of population extinction outpaces the rate of natural population growth.
We are dying out, and Russia is no exception. Young people don't want to live in a family. The cult of the serious young man, unburdened by such trivialities as love, and young women's worship of egoism—these are the modern demographic problems. The ideal of the bachelor life and the loneliness that has become habitual for many.
It's not wars or unknown diseases that are killing us, but ourselves. The rise of the child-free movement, whose adherents marry and forego procreation. The mass propaganda of an ideology that a happy family doesn't have many children. The belief that people should strive to have just one child and give them maximum love and care—all of this is dealing an irreparable blow to the human population. Meanwhile, poor countries are experiencing horrific overpopulation, even though even there the rate of extinction has slowed significantly. All of this suggests that someone doesn't need billions of intelligent and educated people, but billions of cheap and uneducated labor. But who?
Indeed, cheap labor is becoming widespread worldwide. But if you think about it, corporations aren't actually making superprofits from such people. So what's the point of all this propaganda? And just when the question seemed to reach a dead end, an answer is found. The population explosion and consumer culture have led not only to overpopulation of the planet but also to the depletion of its resources. Scientists estimate that if the population growth rates of the late twentieth century resume, within the next few centuries oil and gas reserves will be completely depleted, a food crisis will arise, and landfills will completely poison the soil.
The gradual extinction of educated and intelligent people leads corporations to gradually reduce production volumes across all industries. The need to slaughter millions of animals for natural meat disappears, as it's much easier to provide the uneducated masses with products containing virtually no natural ingredients. Corporate profits won't diminish, as the uneducated masses won't understand that the prices of such products are unreasonably high, and educated people will virtually disappear by then. The institution of the family will gradually disappear. The practice of using juvenile treatment technologies is already bearing bitter fruit. State-run orphanages are displacing traditional family education. This will allow states to teach children only what they themselves want. Parents will no longer be able to impart more useful knowledge. However, despite the fact that the reduction of the human population is being carried out with good intentions, one major problem remains. Its name is extinction.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. This proverb perfectly describes many modern events. For centuries, the powers that be have been trying to control what is currently beyond their control. The path these destinies have chosen is mistaken. Population growth will push us toward accelerating the pace of technological progress, while population decline and the extinction of educated people will, on the contrary, plunge the entire world into chaos and stagnation. It will return us to where we started. This cannot be allowed.
Is it possible to control our population decline? Will we be able to stop extinction in time? The answers to these questions have not yet been given. And the time for answers has not yet come. However, today we know the potential consequences. We understand the tragedy this could lead to, and we can certainly fight it. Despite the propaganda promoting family abandonment and a self-centered worldview, we have a duty to remain human and not forget true values.
Family and procreation are not only the meaning of our lives but also the normal course of evolution. Every time humanity has interfered with evolutionary processes, we have always faced failure. We must not hinder evolution and we must not follow popular egocentrism. We must always remember that loneliness is our ancient enemy. Survival is possible only through unity. We must not allow the enemy to win.
