Code Switch How Elon Musk and JD Vance plan to 'save civilization' with more babies
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Oct 29, 2025 Emily Merchant, an associate professor specializing in demography, and Julia Black, a tech reporter focused on pronatalism, dive into the controversial topic of population growth. They discuss how figures like Elon Musk and JD Vance advocate for increased birth rates to 'save civilization.' The conversation unearths the historical fears surrounding overpopulation, the intersection of eugenics with modern pronatalism, and the implications for societal structure. Julia shares insights from NatalCon, revealing the disturbing ties between this movement and nationalist ideologies.
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Elite Couples Framing Reproduces Old Fears
- Pronatalists like the Collinses argue educated, high-IQ couples must have more children to preserve values and intelligence.
- That framing echoes eugenic ideas by privileging certain births as vital to society's future.
Population Bomb Revived Malthusian Fears
- The 1968 Population Bomb warned rapid population growth would cause famine and collapse.
- That panic combined Malthusian math with moral judgments about who should reproduce.
Malthus Shaped Population And Moral Thought
- Malthus argued population grows geometrically while food grows linearly, creating limits.
- He tied poverty to sexual restraint, shaping 19th-century policies toward the poor.
