Here is a quotation from The Story of Civilization (Volume 3) by the famous historian, Will Durant. It is taken from Chapter three which is entitled, “Why Rome Fell.”
“In Greece the depopulation had been going on for centuries. In Alexandria, which had boasted of its numbers, Dionysius calculated that the population had, in his time, (250 A.D.) been halved. He mourned to see the human race diminishing and constantly wasting away. Only barbarians and Orientals were increasing – outside the empire and within. What caused this fall in population? Above all, family limitation. Practiced first by the educated classes, it had now seeped down to the proletariat, famed for its fertility; by A.D. 100 it had reached the agricultural classes, as shown by the use of the imperial “alimenta” (hand outs) to encourage rural parentage. By the Third century it had overrun the western provinces and was lowering manpower in Gaul. Though branded as a crime, infanticide flourished as poverty grew. Sexual excesses had reduced human fertility.”
He ends the chapter with this sentence, “Rome was conquered, not by barbarian invasion from without but by barbarian multiplication from within.”
Could it happen again?
In the Sunday Star of March 16, Richard Gwyn wrote a very arresting article under the title, “Low birth rate clouds West German future.” According to Gwyn, West Germany is suffering from a mental disease called, “kinderfeindlichkeit” which means, “dislike of children.”
He says, “In all affluent, western societies, the birth rate has dropped below ‘replacement’ rate of 2.2 children to each family. Canada’s birth rate is 1.7. As a consequence, our population is growing more slowly and is aging.” He says that West Germany’s condition is an entire order of magnitude more acute. “It is, literally, a dying nation.”
Today, West Germany’s population is 61 million. By the year 2030 (less than 50 years from now!) the number of Germans could decline to 33 million. At present the birth rate is 1.3 children per family – the lowest in the world and the lowest in recorded history. Gwyn quotes University of Cologne sociologist, Peter Scheuch, as saying “The change came in the 1960s, with the celebration of the importance of individual self-realization. Children are now seen as an obstacle to the fulfillment of personal career and leisure aspirations.”
Sounds like the German edition of the “Me Generation.” Almost half (47 per cent) of German children are growing up without any brothers or sisters.
Children Unpopular
“It’s an adult world in Germany to which children have to adapt,” says Heinrich Sudmann of the Ministry of Youth, Family and Health, “here children are regarded as a nuisance…” Richard Gwyn goes on to say, “In restaurants in West Germany couples with children are greeted with frowns, while those with dogs in tow are greeted with smiles. Few hotels have spare beds or cots for couples traveling with children.”
The Armed Forces
The Government is getting worried about the falling birth rate. One reason is the difficulty of keeping up the armed forces. In order to maintain the army at the committed level of 500,000, West Germany has extended the term of conscripts from 15 to 18 months and is debating whether to open combat positions to women. In 1985 there were 117,000 too few 18 year old boys to serve in the forces! But, in spite of the “writing on the wall” the abortion mills are thriving. According to Richard Gwyn, “there are an incredible 300,000 abortions in Germany per year – incredible when compared with 600,000 live births.” He continues, “But, for an entire society to apparently accept its shrinkage passively, as seems to be happening in West Germany, is something quite else.”
According to official statistics, in 1985 there were 113,000 more coffins than cradles. Just try a similar working system with your bank account and see how well off you will be in a few years!
Not confined to West Germany
But this “depopulization” is not confined to West Germany. Holland with a population of some 13 million, has emptied 3,300 classrooms in ten years. France’s population has so diminished that they are depending on Moslems from their former colonies to keep up the work force. The Moslems – not being Christians! – do not believe in birth control, so they have large families.
Dr. Emmanuel Tremblay, a French scientist, has calculated that – if things continue as now – France, once the “eldest daughter of the Church” will be predominately a Mohammedan country by the year 2035. That is 55 years from now. In 1571 the Mohammedan Turks were prevented from invading Europe by their defeat by the Christian forces in the battle of Lepanto.
How much worse…
Today, out of 21 million “guest workers” in Western Europe, some seven million are Moslems. On average, Moslems have three times the number of children Christians have. The prophet Mohammed urged his followers to conquer the world with the “sword in one hand and the Koran in the other.” A modern saying among Moslem leaders is this, “We don’t need the sword any more – we have the children!”
When somebody sympathized with Helen Keller on her physical blindness, she replied, “How much worse it is to have eyes and refuse to see.”
