The New Atlantis - The New Politics of Technology

"Technological societies also face novel burdens that are inseparable from their novel achievements. Modern medicine extends life and promotes geographic mobility. But it also means that a growing proportion of the elderly will suffer many years of long-term dementia and dependence, and thus stand in much greater need of care-giving children who live far away. Many people will end their lives sad, decrepit, and alone. In a similar vein, birth control allows us to have fewer children and greater sexual freedom. But the demographic collapse of Europe means that an entire civilization may be slowly dying of "presentism" -- vanishing at the hands of a middle-aged generation dedicated to seeking its own well-being rather than passing down its cultural heritage to future generations. Perhaps technological life is so good that the adults want it all for themselves; they do not wish to share it with dependent children. Or perhaps, at bottom, the adults have so little faith in the cosmic significance of modern technological life that they feel little urgency to perpetuate it. Whatever the explanation, it is strange that the most prosperous parts of the world -- with the possible exception of America's religious and immigrant communities -- have the least interest in procreation."