It is predicted that in less than a decade China’s population will drop from billions to somewhere within the bracket of six to seven hundred million after the decay and demise of the older population. An aging population is always a challenge that the world faces, especially if those challenges include the welfare policies of the state. China will have to pay pensions for over one hundred million people for the next few years and has increased the retirement age by at least five years, to combat the swiftly changing dynamics in its population.
Japan suffers the same brunt. With an aging population and declining birth rates, the Japanese population expects a steep decrease in individuals capable of working, and a youthful generation to carry its culture forward.
The majority of the world boasts less than 40% of its population being young. The Sub-continent brags that its population is 70% below the age of 30.
As explained in “The Era of Barbarism”, society has to restructure and rethink its way of mingling and mixing. If populations worldwide continue to decrease in some regions and increase in others, the greater combination will have to supersede the ideas of religion, race, and culture. This means the world would have to ignore ethnicity and focus purely on the workforce if the ultimate goal is monetary gain for nations. But if the goal is safeguarding national heritage, then the framework and institutions have to be so definitive yet covert and detailed, that it happens without humans realizing it.
Many experts commented years ago that in a hundred years the total skin tone of the world would be brown. With an exceptional mixture of African and Asian migrants in Western nations coupling and leading to a mixed world in the coming years, this could mean the demise of Western ideals, falling in favor of Eastern and Southern ideologies.
Although not many have publicly claimed that this would be a problem, but some social media personalities believe the rise in the Muslim population is a threat to White Christians around the world. That will soon be the fear so predicted by Samuel P. Huntington, that it could cause greater controversy in the war of cultures.
The problem isn’t the rise and fall of population rates, the issue is where do they go and what to do with the aging populace? The going part will soon become a free-for-all from the perspective of labor, breeding, and protection of heritage, whereas the aging population would have to be transferred out of major cities to make room and curb the housing crisis as a whole. Furthermore, ultimate goals have to be outlined and perfected. Does the world go back to small communities? Or does it follow capitalist endeavors and make room for work?
Climate change has yet to impact on a scale unbeknownst to man. Mass migration is expected from climate disasters, causing many to leave naturally hazardous locations to safer areas. Island nations and port cities are in grave danger of sinking due to rising sea levels, meaning that they would have to move to bigger cities which can be too costly or too difficult. The price burden for these movements can’t be solely taken by the state, nor can it be solely left to individuals to fend for themselves. Simultaneously, the adverse effect on housing markets and land prices will surely be detrimental.
Keeping all of this in mind, the new era demands a new requirement: A key change in focus. It is also a troublesome world as migration has triggered ethno- and xenocentric notions worldwide. With such a blatant divide amongst cultures, heritage, and religion, where do nations look for the breeding of new youth, importing of labor, and simultaneously safeguarding traditions and heritage?
