Books - What to Expect When No One's Expecting by Jonathan Last

Population Decline and the Birth Dearth

by Scott Yenor

Jonathan Last's new book attributes population decline
 and the birth dearth to two trends that started in the Enlightenment era--first, an effort to limit death; second, an effort to control birth. 
Both trends are guided by a desire to control nature.

All Western countries have birthrates below the replacement rates, suggesting that soon all countries will experience a graying of, and a decline in, population. Jonathan Last asks why this has happened in his new book, the cleverly titled What to Expect When No One's Expecting, putting demographic decline in a broader context.

Before we get to Last's argument, we should revisit a debate between two great Enlightenment philosophers: Montesquieu and David Hume. In Spirit of the Laws, Montesquieu argues that ancient republics had more people than modern ones. Catastrophes aside, this lack of fecundity shows that a country is plagued with "internal vice and bad government." The internal vices can range from a proud celibacy to a self-indulgent libertinism.

Montesquieu argued that population trajectory is partly the product of marriage laws. Ancient republics encouraged men and women to marry, and penalized bachelorhood. "Old Roman laws sought to induce the citizens to marry," and censors were established to mind marriage mores. Roman law penalized parents without children and rewarded those with children with special honors and exemptions.

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Read more: www.thepublicdiscourse.com