Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry Imagining a Low-Fertility Future - Samo Burja | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 166
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Oct 5, 2025 
Samo Burja, founder of Bismarck Analysis and senior research fellow, dives into the implications of falling fertility rates on democracy and geopolitics. He discusses the rise of gerontocracy, where older populations dominate, and how this skews political power away from youth. Samo emphasizes the challenges youth face in political engagement, including the decline of political violence and the ramifications of an aging workforce. He warns that global fertility trends predict further declines, complicating future economic and social stability.
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Democracy Favors The Old In Low-Fertility States
- Democracy privileges the old when fertility falls because elders hold disproportionate social, property, and experiential power.
- Low fertility inverts demographics, making youth a permanent political minority with little leverage.
Youth Lose Herd Power And Political Clout
- Demographic inversion removes youth majorities and the normalization of children, weakening family-focused norms and policy.
- Youth-focused parties or protests lack electoral weight when under 25s are a minority of voters.
Loss Of Violent Leverage Limits Youth Revolt
- Eliminating organized political violence reduces youth's historical leverage as insurgent cohorts.
- Older police and military personnel are likelier to suppress youthful unrest, so youth rarely win through force.