Billionaire and tech visionary Elon Musk sounded the alarm about America’s dwindling birth rate on Tuesday while saying that the solution is, in part, to “celebrate having kids.”
Musk has warned about the world’s underpopulation in the past but focused specifically on the United States in his latest comments. The potential new owner of Twitter added that America’s birth rate has been unsustainable for half a century.
“USA birth rate has been below min sustainable levels for ~50 years,” Musk tweeted.
Contrary to what many think, the richer someone is, the fewer kids they have.
I am a rare exception. Most people I know have zero or one kid.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2022
Musk, who has eight children, also added that wealthier people tend not to have as many children.
“Contrary to what many think, the richer someone is, the fewer kids they have. I am a rare exception. Most people I know have zero or one kid,” he claimed.
Statista noted that In 2017 “the birth rate in the United States was highest in families that had under 10,000 U.S. dollars in income per year, at 66.44 births per 1,000 women. As the income scale increases, the birth rate decreases, with families making 200,000 U.S. dollars or more per year having the lowest birth rate, at 43.92 births per 1,000 women.”
Robby Starbuck, a Tennessee GOP congressional candidate, responded to Musk by claiming that “America needs a culture shift that celebrates the nuclear family & having kids.”
Musk pushed back, saying, “We just need to celebrate having kids.”
We just need to celebrate having kids
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2022
Musk’s tweets come days after he slammed the notion that having more children somehow contributes to global warming.
“Some people think that having fewer kids is better for the environment. That’s total nonsense,” Musk said during the All-In Summit on Friday.
“The environment’s gonna be fine even if we doubled the population. And I know about environmental stuff. We can’t have civilization just dwindle into nothing,” he added.
"Some people think that having fewer kids is better for the environment. Environment's gonna be fine even if we doubled the population. Japan had lowest birth rate. Having kids is essential for maintaining civilization. We can't let civilization dwindle into nothing." — @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/i03zytLDTJ
— Pranay Pathole (@PPathole) May 20, 2022
Musk also mocked the idea that it was somehow immoral to bring children into the world in the 21st century.
“I have heard many times. ‘How can I bring a child into this terrible world?’ I’m like, ‘have you read history?’” he added. “Because let me tell you, it was way worse back then.’”
In December, Musk also said, according to the New York Post, that he believes underpopulation is one of the greatest threats to civilization.
“I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is the low birthrate and the rapidly declining birthrate,” Musk said at the time. “And yet, so many people, including smart people, think that there are too many people in the world and think that the population is growing out of control,” Musk continued. “It’s completely the opposite. Please look at the numbers — if people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble, mark my words.”
Source: Dailywire
