I can say that unqualified judges generally cause the corruption more than the qualified ones.

To be fair to us, the brain worm guy dropped out.

Yeah, the naval base is the big thing.

For Ukraine, it’s about the principle of the matter. Taking Crimea back would mean “we are a real country and you can’t push us around.”

Just the dirt is worth a lot. Even if Russia conducted a genocide without anyone noticing, and all the buildings flat.

Maybe. I am voting and volunteering. Beto surprised us 6 years ago. I am hoping Allred can surprise us again. Bring your friends and family to the polls. Early voting is easy where I live. Please give it a try.

France has a powerful executive. More powerful than even the US president, inside their own system.

I have heard the French presidency described as an “elected dictator.”

Macron wants people to see what the far right has to offer and hopefully realize they don’t like it before the presidency goes up for grabs.

France made childcare and education free and relatively high quality and look at that! They have just under replacement level fertility!

Some people do want children. Not everyone, but lots of people do. It’s true that wealth depresses fertility, but you can have a sustainable society if you give people financial security.

I’m willing to believe there are some cultural issues at play, not just the economics, but that is for demographers to tease out.

The American congressional representatives have an average of 2 children. Replacement rate. Get our standard of living up to that and you will see fertility go up.

In what country?

I’m talking about raising wages by 40-70% in the US.

Pipe dream, but if it happened the fertility rate would increase.

Raise the price of labor to the point that a working family can afford to have children at the standard they consider socially acceptable.

That would devalue investment accounts though, so it won’t happen until there is suffering on a scale not seen outside of major wars.

Who will bail them out when nobody is working to pay the taxes?

I’m not saying it will work itself out, but at some point the country will start to look like south Africa. The infrastructure will break faster than it can be fixed, degrading the system further and further.

I’ll take a crack.

Slow population loss, while concerning for policy makers, can be managed theoretically by moving money around. Taxation, subsidies, etc.

The US is currently at 1.6 fertility rate. 2.1 is replacement rate, so a pretty steep drop of 25% loss per generation. But we have substantial immigration to make up the shortfall. It’s an issue, and it’s trending down, but manageable for now.

Fertility rates of 1 or less are terrifying. Each generation is half the size of the one before. Half as many workers supporting the elderly. Retirement/pension systems will be strained then collapse, allowing retirees to fall into poverty. Half as many workers to maintain infrastructure, half as many doctors, half as many nurses, half as many experts in every field, means half as many researchers making discoveries and breakthroughs.

God forbid you go to war and have half as many soldiers to call on, from a workforce already stretched beyond any before. It’s a recipe for mass suffering in a scale never before seen.

South Korea and Japan are currently below 1. China might be even lower. People are, generally, resilient and resourceful. Adjustments will be made. People will work into their 70’s and 80’s because there is work to be done. But there will be a great deal of suffering.