![\"Population](\"https:\/\/thenewamerican.com\/assets\/sites\/2\/_img\/412924\/Ghost-town-12.28.24-Getty-157186156-1080x720.jpg\" "\\"Population")
Article audio sponsored by The John Birch Society<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/trinitymedia.ai\/player\/trinity-player.php?pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fthenewamerican.com%2Fus%2Fculture%2Fpopulation-collapse-is-western-human-extinction-near%2F&readContentType=URL&readContentConfig=%7B%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fthenewamerican.com%2Fwp-content%2Ftts%2Ftna_412920.html%22%2C%22dataType%22%3A%22html%22%7D&unitId=2900010979&userId=72cf72d1-6263-49d1-9652-cc928a6282a8&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20241230_a06cac7f5f0f5dd1a272229e3fc351b678f1266f&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=477&unitType=tts-player&integrationType=web<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dating back to the Middle Ages, the town of Semestene in Sardinia, Italy, has quite a history \u2014 one that could come to an end within a decade. With a population that has dwindled rapidly in recent years, 54 of its 126 residents are aged 65 or over<\/a>. The town has just four<\/em> children under 10 years old remaining. And its last birth, a 2023 report held<\/a>, was eight years earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welcome to Ghost Town Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sound like exaggeration? Well, consider that the U.S. has approximately<\/a> 3,800 ghost towns, with New Mexico having about<\/a> 400 alone. Italy is about the size of that state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it has at least 6,000<\/em> ghost towns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt least,\u201d that is, because that estimate<\/a> was made in 2015 \u2014 and informed that another 15,000 localities were \u201con the brink.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One could in fact wonder if this is the emptiest a European nation\u2019s towns have been since the medieval black plague wiped out one-quarter to one-half of the continent\u2019s population. The problem now is another plague, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The plague of low fertility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why worry about this? I mean, with pasta and pizza and the like having spread throughout the world, we needn\u2019t worry about losing our favorite buonissima<\/em>(!) Italian fare. What\u2019s more, there are in excess of eight billion people on the planet. So shouldn\u2019t we cheer this bambini<\/em> bust? Perhaps not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, it\u2019s ironic that a birthplace of Western civilization now leads in its decline because of a lack of births. But that is reality: Italy is merely representative of Western European countries in general. And front and center warning about this has been billionaire visionary Elon Musk. Just consider comments he made \u2014 and those of a popular X user \u2014 not long ago (tweet with video below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?c<\/p>\n\n\n\n That user, a German entrepreneur named Ole Lehmann, also posted some other striking information (below). For one thing, he points out that by \u201c2100, Europe will have lost 117 million [more] people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, note (below) how much the number of births has declined in Europe in just one year (2022-23.) The only European nation on the list that registered an increase is Norway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 50px<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, this wouldn\u2019t be too consequential if the decline occurred within the context of still robust birth rates. In reality, however, many of the world\u2019s fertility rates \u2014 and Western peoples\u2019 in particular \u2014 have long been strikingly low. (Map-style statistics follow. Note: 2.1 children per woman is replacement level.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n &width=550px<\/p>\n\n\n\n This may not matter much to the hate-the-West-first crowd \u2014 or those believing that, somehow, Western ideals will be perpetuated by non-Western peoples. But those who know what a world without the West really means for humanity will be alarmed. (Recommended reading: my 2023 essay<\/a> \u201cA World Without the West<\/a>.\u201d) Also troubled may be those who understand that, as commentator Mark Steyn put it, \u201cThe future belongs to those who show up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Westerners are showing up less than most other peoples, too. And what this means exactly was explained by Marko Jukic, a senior analyst at Bismarck Analysis. \u201cA fertility rate below 1.6 means 50% less new people after three generations, say 100 years. Below 1.2 means an 80% drop,\u201d Newsweek<\/em> quoted him as stating<\/a> in October. \u201cThe U.S. is at 1.64. China, Japan, Poland, Spain all below 1.2. South Korea is at 0.7\u201496% drop. Mass extinction numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, Italy is at 1.2 as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All this said, declining fertility is a worldwide phenomenon. As HealthData.org wrote<\/a> in March, quoting The Lancet<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n By 2050, over three-quarters (155 of 204) of countries will not have high enough fertility rates to sustain population size over time; this will increase to 97% of countries (198 of 204) by 2100.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n While the zero-population-growth types and misanthropes will applaud, this, again, comes with some negative consequences. As Earth.com explained<\/a> last Wednesday:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When fewer babies are born, the workforce thins out in a matter of decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Economic systems depend on a steady stream of workers, consumers, and taxpayers. If countries produce fewer citizens, they may struggle to maintain productivity and keep growth on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Economists worry that, as population structures skew towards older groups, tax bases might shrink, and this could make it harder to pay for services that keep society running smoothly.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nNot Just Italy Getting the Demographic Boot<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPoof!\u201d Goes the West?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What Happens in the West Doesn\u2019t Stay in the West<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n