A different way to interpret the birthrate changes is to acknowledge that people aren’t having kids because the rate of exploitation coupled with lack of social services makes having children impossible.
If the state provided childcare support, parental leave, free education, etc., then far more people would be having children.
Don’t get me wrong. I think that’s true as well. I’m not entirely convinced on what quantity of “far more” it would result in though. One thing I think goes under-examined is that access to entertainment has also had a reducing factor. Fewer people using social activities as their means of killing boredom means fewer opportunities where those activities lead to something more. Increases in free time may not increase rates if that free time ends up spent on activities that lead to bedroom time.
Sure, but that’s just another sign of alienation under capitalism. Different social structures would also create different priorities for people and change the way they spend their lives socially.
Is it? I don’t see how abundance of entertainment choices is related to alienation.
If we have 5000 ways to spend our free time in a socialist society and people end up choosing to do various forms of entertainment that don’t involve the possibility of leading to sexy time, are they alienated in the socialist society? Or is the issue that the convenient entertainment is muscling out the less convenient entertainment in competition for a person’s limited amount of total time?
A person does not need to be alienated from their labour to choose to watch tv or play a single player videogame instead of going out to a bar or social event.
Abundance entertainment is directly related to alienation because you end up spending time consuming it instead of participating in activities with other people. Imagine a society where people go out to do sports, have picnics, enjoy nature, get together to discuss books, etc. Social planning can ensure that there are parks, libraries, sport centers, and other facilities for people to use and where they can spend time together.
Abundance entertainment is a direct product of capitalist relations and consumerism. We’ve structured our society around consumption, and entertainment has become a major form of consumption now that capitalism in the west moved into its financialized phase. A socialist society doesn’t have to be structured this way. The focus on producing media to be sold to customers is a direct product of the economic relations in our society.
A different way to interpret the birthrate changes is to acknowledge that people aren’t having kids because the rate of exploitation coupled with lack of social services makes having children impossible.
If the state provided childcare support, parental leave, free education, etc., then far more people would be having children.
Don’t get me wrong. I think that’s true as well. I’m not entirely convinced on what quantity of “far more” it would result in though. One thing I think goes under-examined is that access to entertainment has also had a reducing factor. Fewer people using social activities as their means of killing boredom means fewer opportunities where those activities lead to something more. Increases in free time may not increase rates if that free time ends up spent on activities that lead to bedroom time.
Sure, but that’s just another sign of alienation under capitalism. Different social structures would also create different priorities for people and change the way they spend their lives socially.
Is it? I don’t see how abundance of entertainment choices is related to alienation.
If we have 5000 ways to spend our free time in a socialist society and people end up choosing to do various forms of entertainment that don’t involve the possibility of leading to sexy time, are they alienated in the socialist society? Or is the issue that the convenient entertainment is muscling out the less convenient entertainment in competition for a person’s limited amount of total time?
A person does not need to be alienated from their labour to choose to watch tv or play a single player videogame instead of going out to a bar or social event.
Abundance entertainment is directly related to alienation because you end up spending time consuming it instead of participating in activities with other people. Imagine a society where people go out to do sports, have picnics, enjoy nature, get together to discuss books, etc. Social planning can ensure that there are parks, libraries, sport centers, and other facilities for people to use and where they can spend time together.
Abundance entertainment is a direct product of capitalist relations and consumerism. We’ve structured our society around consumption, and entertainment has become a major form of consumption now that capitalism in the west moved into its financialized phase. A socialist society doesn’t have to be structured this way. The focus on producing media to be sold to customers is a direct product of the economic relations in our society.