During an interview with Wall Street Journal reporter Joanna Stern on Monday, tech mogul and entrepreneur Elon Musk said “civilization is going to crumble” if declining birth rates continue.
The population trend—coined a ‘demographic winter’ by social scientists—has steadily worsened over recent decades, primarily in first-world countries. “There are not enough people,” the 50-year-old father of six said. “I can’t emphasize this enough, there are not enough people.”
Musk pointed out a widely understood assumption, that labor is “the foundation of the economy,” and without labor, production and growth are severely compromised. He made the statement while explaining how his company, Tesla, would have to start using robots as human substitutes, since the labor market wouldn’t be able to furnish sufficient manpower.
He also hinted at the irony that it’s primarily people in the high IQ brackets that opt out of having more children or indeed, any children at all. “And yet so many people—including smart people—think there are too many people in the world and think the population is growing out of control. It’s completely the opposite.”
Experts believe the climate crisis factors significantly in the decision whether to limit or reject reproduction.
Musk further urged, “Please look at the numbers, if people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble,” adding the prophetic warning, “Mark my words.”
