Europe, the Overpopulation Myth, and Contraception: Vortex

In the July 17 episode of the Vortex, Michael Voris addresses the population “implosion” that is being experience in Europe, as well as other parts of the world, like Japan. Far from “overpopulation”, European nations are experiencing a decline in the numbers of native-born citizens. The cause: contraception.

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The idea that we need to limit the number of children born to each couple has been drummed into our heads since at least the 1950’s. Catastrophic predictions about the world running out of food, etc., were rampant when I was growing up; I remember it very well. I remember being taught that couples should have only two children – one to replace the mom, and one to replace the dad – because otherwise the world would not be able to support all people who came into being. I wasn’t taught this in a class on population control; it was just part of the cultural milieu in which I grew up. But I do remember that teachers in school would touch on it occasionally, and the topic was discussed among the students in my high school.

I maintain that this “overpopulation” mindset influenced the wording in the documents of Vatican II and those following, and that the idea of “responsible parenthood” took root because of the false teaching that the world was on a course of self-destruction unless births were limited.

What a disaster “responsible parenthood” has been for the Church! That concept has undermined the centuries-old teaching that procreation is the primary end of marriage, leading to the new idea that the unitive and procreative ends are on equal footing. The 1950 years of Church teaching that preceded Humanae Vitae and Theology of the Body do not agree. It appears we’ve thrown out the idea that there might be any concupiscence at all in our sexual desires.

The overpopulation myth and the concept of “responsible parenthood” also paved the way for bishops and priests to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the use of artificial contraception by a huge percentage of the faithful. And now, still not wanting to confront the issue of the grave sin of contraception, the USCCB encourages birth control in the form of NFP.

Sigh.

Well, anyway, here’s the Vortex, with the script below.

Europe is undergoing a massive change. It's been talked about here and there in a somewhat spotty manner but it bears more attention.

We thought being here in northern Italy would be a good place to shine a spotlight on the topic even more and the topic is the gigantic population transformation going on in Europe right now.

Across the heartland of the former Christian civilization often times called Christendom the population is imploding. There are not enough children to put it simply. Not enough children to advance European life into the future.

For a civilization to continue from one generation to the next and beyond, there must be a fertility rate of 2.1.

That means on average, every couple must have slightly more than two children: one to replace the mother one to replace the father - hence the term “replacement rate”.

The “point one” comes in to make up for the children who will sadly die in childhood of disease or accident or violence. So for a population to continue replacing itself, parents must have slightly more than two children.

Here in Italy, just as one example from Europe, that hasn't happened in over 20 years.

Currently, Italy's fertility rate is 1.4, not nearly enough to replace itself. Since 1993, the number of native born Italians has actually shrunk by a third of a million.

Bottom line: there are fewer Italians on the earth today than there were 20 years ago.  

Add to this that the fertility rate fell below the all-important 2.1 children per couple in 1977 and has never recovered.

And the timing makes perfect sense. The Age of Contraception was dawning, and use of birth control became widespread. By the time the children of the 1970’s grew up and started NOT having children, the results started showing up in demographic charts in the 1990’s.

These statistics are masked by various immigrants coming into Italy, which makes the overall Italian population look stable – but that's the citizens, not native-born Italians.

And this is happening all over Europe. Not one country in Europe is even close to replacing itself. Every one of them – every single European country – has a fertility rate below replacement levels.

This means there are fewer native born Englishman walking around today then there were 20 years ago; fewer Spanish; fewer French, Portuguese, Germans, Dutch, Austrians, Hungarians, Russians, Croatians, Poles, Bulgarians, and Greeks.

Europe is fading away, and it is fading away because of contraception and abortion.

Christian Europe – Catholic Europe - is birth-controlling itself right out of existence.

Catholic nations of Europe have succumbed to the legacy of the Protestant heresy and exchanged the Church’s sexual teaching for sexual gratification. And they are now beginning to pay the price for their rebellion.

But more than JUST the raw numbers, a basic foundational change is occurring with enormous ramifications. The INTERIOR DYNMAICS of the population ITSELF are changing: fewer young people, many more elderly, and a resulting seismic shift in economies with fewer workers paying into the overarching socialist style states.

The nanny state – which is supreme here in European Nations and quickly getting a stranglehold in the USA (thanks, Obama) – is running out of money. It needs to dial back on how much it doles out and then turn around and increase the amount it taxes its citizens. Just ask Greece…and Spain…and Portugal… and Ireland…and Italy

A shrinking population translates into catastrophe for a nation’s economy. And a country cannot keep borrowing indefinitely to offset the economic turmoil. Margaret Thatcher, former British Prime Minister, once famously said, “The problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

The final gasp of the remaining Catholics here in Europe may very well be, “You should have listened to the Pope. The Church was right.”

It has fallen to the Catholic Church – as it always does - to save the world. The question we as Catholics must seriously consider is this: does the world want to be saved?

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