Russia's demographic recovery + US demographic decline = danger
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Apr 16, 2014
In a quiet development, unnoticed by the major media, the the birth rate in Russia has inched higher than in the US.
Thirty years ago the Soviet Union was a crumbling empire. At the time, most people in the West did not notice its internal decay. But the nation’s fertility rate, well below the replacement level, was a giveaway. A nation that cannot reproduce is a nation that cannot survive. Now Russia is creeping back up toward the replacement level, while the US drops steadily further below it.
This should be troubling news to all Americans. The US won the Cold War, but it is still possible to lose the peace. Russia remains dangerous, capable of brutality, anxious for hegemony; events in Crimea, and current events in eastern Ukraine, should erase any illusions on that score. After a few decades of lethargy, Russia is showing new vigor—at just the time that the US, the only Western nation capable of opposing Russian aggression—shows neither energy nor a strong will to live.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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Posted by: jg23753479 -
Apr. 16, 2014 3:42 PM ET USA
We disagree here, not about the deplorable decline in fertility in the US (and the West generally), but about the nature of Russia today. Compare Putin and Obama as Pat Buchanan has lately, and it is quickly clear whose vision is more amenable to Christian persuasion. I am not saying either man is "good" or "bad" but simply that Putin promotes sensible public morality while Obama is the world's cheerleader for ghastly evil at every turn.
