Last time in this space, my summary of Pope Francis's address to the States General on Natality in Rome sparked debate here and there. Traditionalists, though fully on board with the pro-family agenda, are troubled by his pontificate.
Let's not be distracted from the cold hard facts that the very future of our species is on the line. Don't quibble about survival. Preservation and perpetuation of the family is our fundamental imperative above all else.
Along those lines there is fantastic news. Momentum is building among pro-natalists. Our numbers are increasing, as is enthusiasm. Demographic data is piling up. As facts accumulate and consciousness rises, the chattering class is no longer wholly dismissing us - even as climate continues to change!
Did I say momentum? Pope Francis's comments have global resonance. More people are getting involved. There is much brainstorming about the best way forward. A sterling example of that is right here in Virginia.
The Institute for Family Studies (IFS) is based in Charlottesville, Virginia, the other side of Afton Mountain from me. Last week they announced, "IFS Launches the Pronatalist Initiative Under New Senior Fellow Lyman Stone."
Demographer Lyman Stone has been awarded an Institute for Family Studies (IFS) senior fellowship to establish the Pronatalism Initiative. With governments around the world grappling for urgent solutions to a rapid decline in fertility, the IFS Pronatalism Initiative will pioneer new research to create a suite of policies to counteract global fertility decline. Stone, chief information officer of the consulting firm Demographic Intelligence, joins the team at IFS where he was previously a research fellow.
That is huge. Mr. Stone is known to Mercator readers. His work is followed by demographers and pro-family folks worldwide. On pronatalism, he's a go-to guy:
I am delighted to be joining the Institute for Family Studies as a senior fellow. The IFS is respected by policy makers and the media for its high caliber research. The IFS Pronatalism Initiative will lead the broad and urgent interest in fertility to a clear, well-researched suite of policy solutions... Fertility rebound is not only possible, it may even be likely.
Likely indeed. I'm pulling for Mr. Stone and the Pronatalist Initiative. Avidly pro-family, he is not a demographer content with simply generating statistics:
I think economic factors delaying the life course are the dominant force shaping declining marriage, alongside marriage penalties in tax and welfare policies. Overwhelming majorities of young people still report strong desire to marry, and at younger ages than the current median age of marriage.
The long delay between adulthood and economic independence is the main cause of declining marriage.
Highly individualistic societies often still have high marriage rates. The bigger values shift is about marriage as a 'capstone' to personal success rather than marriage as a 'foundation' for couple success.
[We should] try and help people get into good marriages earlier in life. There is no societal substitute for marriage.
Emergent Ventures, a like-minded venture capital firm, is funding the Initiative.
Two days after the IFS post Catholic Review ran a piece aptly entitled "Virginia institute launches Pronatalism initiative to address global birth dearth." That it comes on the heels of Pope Francis's remarks to the States General on Natality enhances the Initiative's impact. Funny how that works.
According to Mr. Stone, a foremost priority of the Pronatalism Initiative will be to formulate solutions to the housing crisis. Housing costs are a tremendous obstacle to family life, absorbing precious resources that should go to rearing children. That is a problem often cited but rarely addressed. Kudos to IFS for prioritizing that.
Regarding family life in the US, Stone says:
The simple fact is that birth rates in the U.S. are far below what people say they want; they're far below what women say they want for themselves, personally. That is a problem of reproductive autonomy.
Just last month Stone and coauthor Erin Wingerter made a compelling case for governments to implement pronatalist policies in their report Is There Hope for Low Fertility? 'Demographic Rearmament' in Southern Europe. Their research delved into government family policy in several European countries, and how such policies can have a positive impact.
"Demographic Rearmament" was coined by French President Emmanuel Macron, who has done little in that regard. But as J. P. De Gance, founder of the pro-family ministry Communio, said: "The church and the state each have roles to play here. Lyman Stone and IFS believe they have found evidence of [government] policy increasing birth rates. That's huge."
In our corrupt epoch, the rise of secular humanism has fostered a post-Christian ethos. This sad state of affairs manifests in the monetization of everything, including life itself. Thus endless wars-for-profit, cheap labour immigration and the anti-life "healthcare" industry thrive. Temporal ambition and material priorities steamroll all else. Moral relativism imbues government policy, education and popular culture. This fuels victimology, cancel culture and embittered anti-white racism.
All this contributes to demoralization, widespread discontent and loss of social cohesion. But therein lies hope. People are weary of mammon-worshiping globalism that makes a fulfilling family life prohibitively expensive. Families desire more children but cannot afford them. Lyman Stone calls this the "problem of reproductive autonomy."
It may take a while, but "demographic rearmament" is in the cards. Globalism is running out of gas. Look at the political earthquake in the European Parliament elections. Change is inevitable. How and when this comes about will be the interesting part.
Keep faith.