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The Coffee Shop

  • Thread starter The Fallen Angel
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Given some recent faux pas in the press, the (non-partisan) wisdom of (reformed journalist) Mark Twain came to mind,

“If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed.”

Or Congress (Parliament?)

“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress…But then I repeat myself.”
 
Praefectus Praetorio said:
Given some recent faux pas in the press, the (non-partisan) wisdom of (reformed journalist) Mark Twain came to mind,

“If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed.”

Or Congress (Parliament?)

“Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress…But then I repeat myself.”
Click to expand...
It was difficult to resist adding (or Canadian Prime Minister?) in that last quote, but I abhor personal attacks on those too dull to be able to respond.
 
A statistic I just came across. Remember that despite looming Brexit, much has improved over the years.
Today in Great Britain, the child mortality rate (percent of births that do not live to adulthood) is about 1.2%
In 1900 it was 20%
In 1700 it was 60%

Think how much tragic sadness of parents has been prevented. I think back to my mother in the 50's being very fearful of one of her two children dying in childhood. She had good reason, having given birth to a girl baby who lived 6 days. Those parents among us who have had their children grow to adulthood should be extremely thankful for modern sanitation, nutrition and medicine.:clapping::headbang::clapping:
 
Praefectus Praetorio said:
A statistic I just came across. Remember that despite looming Brexit, much has improved over the years.
Today in Great Britain, the child mortality rate (percent of births that do not live to adulthood) is about 1.2%
In 1900 it was 20%
In 1700 it was 60%

Think how much tragic sadness of parents has been prevented. I think back to my mother in the 50's being very fearful of one of her two children dying in childhood. She had good reason, having given birth to a girl baby who lived 6 days. Those parents among us who have had their children grow to adulthood should be extremely thankful for modern sanitation, nutrition and medicine.:clapping::headbang::clapping:
Click to expand...
My mother had two pregnancies before me (1957). One miscarried and one was still-born. With today's prenatal care, the second one at least might have been saved and I would have had an older brother and been the middle child.
Still, as of 2017, the US ranked 170th in infant mortality with 5.8 deaths per 1000. That's tied with Serbia. The UK was 185 with 4.3 per 1000.
The primary reason is poverty and the lack of accessible heath care. The highest rates in the US are among minorities:
Infant-Mortality-Rate-Ethnicity-Race-2017_400px.png
And the highest rates tend to be in the poorest States.
infant-mortality-map_400px.png

Infant Mortality | Maternal and Infant Health | Reproductive Health | CDC

Over 23,000 infants died in the United States in 2016. CDC is committed to improving birth outcomes and reduce infant mortality in the United States.
www.cdc.gov www.cdc.gov
 
Naraku said:
The primary reason is poverty and the lack of accessible heath care
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That´s one of the reasons why I have only contempt for politicans.
Although Germany is on that list on place 205 with 3.4 deaths per 1000, that will deteriorate in the next few years. The german care for pregnant women relies massive on midwifes. In the last years courts have raised adjudged damages to such a level, that dues for insurance for midwifes are exploded and are not longer financeable. Because of that a lot of midwifes have resigned. A lot of hospitals had to close their delivery wards. Although that is known for years there is no reaction from the politics.
 
Aye, there's a lot more of us -
which is a big reason why the planet's having problems ... :(
It's hard to square our natural desire to protect and extend human life,
avoiding wars and famines, curing disease,
so more and more humans live longer and longer,
with our dawning awareness that there are limits to how much the earth can cope with
no matter what we do about carbon emissions etc.,
population is the elephant in the room.
 
Eulalia said:
Aye, there's a lot more of us -
which is a big reason why the planet's having problems ... :(
It's hard to square our natural desire to protect and extend human life,
avoiding wars and famines, curing disease,
so more and more humans live longer and longer,
with our dawning awareness that there are limits to how much the earth can cope with
no matter what we do about carbon emissions etc.,
population is the elephant in the room.
Click to expand...
Yes, but I think birth control is a better way to cope with that then crib death.
 
Oh certainly. But even in Western society, much more so elsewhere in the world,
there's still something of a stigma to not having children - especially for a hetero woman,
the idea that there may be good reasons for not having children,
that a single, childless woman may actually have a good, enjoyable and fulfilled life,
is hardly encouraged in our culture.
 
connoisseurs said:
Yes, but I think birth control is a better way to cope with that then crib death.
Click to expand...
Of course. On the other hand, fewer births and people living longer (it's no longer rare to see 100 year olds and many are in decent health) leads to problems also with aging populations. Economic growth is going to be very slow with an aging population and no policy can really fix that because older people don't spend money like young ones, except on health care. That's the major reason that Japan with the world's oldest populations has had little growth for almost 30 years and Europe is close behind with the US and Canada trailing only by a bit.
 
Eulalia said:
Oh certainly. But even in Western society, much more so elsewhere in the world,
there's still something of a stigma to not having children - especially for a hetero woman,
the idea that there may be good reasons for not having children,
that a single, childless woman may actually have a good, enjoyable and fulfilled life,
is hardly encouraged in our culture.
Click to expand...
Of course you are right. But - hand on heart - who of us on CF would think of him/herself a model citizen? And who wants to be one? For not having children there is the same to say as to our preferences - each his own.
 
windar said:
Of course. On the other hand, fewer births and people living longer (it's no longer rare to see 100 year olds and many are in decent health) leads to problems also with aging populations. Economic growth is going to be very slow with an aging population and no policy can really fix that because older people don't spend money like young ones, except on health care. That's the major reason that Japan with the world's oldest populations has had little growth for almost 30 years and Europe is close behind with the US and Canada trailing only by a bit.
Click to expand...
I hope you don´t want to suggest cruxification for anyone above age 60? :)
 
And in China, India etc., rising living standards and improved education - especially of girls -
seems to correlate closely with smaller family size. Still - without wanting to be a 'model citizen' -
I'd like those of us who choose to be childless (which of course these days doesn't require
total sexual abstinence by any means) to be seen as something more than freaks or failures.
 
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