I’m glad it’s better.

If you do I’m sorry.

Sandy Hook survivors are in high school now and some are getting into activism.

You give us too much credit.

Anhedonia is horrifying if you think about it.

Sorry to come with “um, ackshuslly” but they didn’t ask if they were convicted of a crime. The question was "were they jailed? And according to your post, they were not.

France has a powerful executive. More powerful than even the US president, inside their own system.

I have heard the French presidency described as an “elected dictator.”

Macron wants people to see what the far right has to offer and hopefully realize they don’t like it before the presidency goes up for grabs.

France made childcare and education free and relatively high quality and look at that! They have just under replacement level fertility!

Some people do want children. Not everyone, but lots of people do. It’s true that wealth depresses fertility, but you can have a sustainable society if you give people financial security.

I’m willing to believe there are some cultural issues at play, not just the economics, but that is for demographers to tease out.

The American congressional representatives have an average of 2 children. Replacement rate. Get our standard of living up to that and you will see fertility go up.

In what country?

I’m talking about raising wages by 40-70% in the US.

Pipe dream, but if it happened the fertility rate would increase.

Raise the price of labor to the point that a working family can afford to have children at the standard they consider socially acceptable.

That would devalue investment accounts though, so it won’t happen until there is suffering on a scale not seen outside of major wars.

Who will bail them out when nobody is working to pay the taxes?

I’m not saying it will work itself out, but at some point the country will start to look like south Africa. The infrastructure will break faster than it can be fixed, degrading the system further and further.

I’ll take a crack.

Slow population loss, while concerning for policy makers, can be managed theoretically by moving money around. Taxation, subsidies, etc.

The US is currently at 1.6 fertility rate. 2.1 is replacement rate, so a pretty steep drop of 25% loss per generation. But we have substantial immigration to make up the shortfall. It’s an issue, and it’s trending down, but manageable for now.

Fertility rates of 1 or less are terrifying. Each generation is half the size of the one before. Half as many workers supporting the elderly. Retirement/pension systems will be strained then collapse, allowing retirees to fall into poverty. Half as many workers to maintain infrastructure, half as many doctors, half as many nurses, half as many experts in every field, means half as many researchers making discoveries and breakthroughs.

God forbid you go to war and have half as many soldiers to call on, from a workforce already stretched beyond any before. It’s a recipe for mass suffering in a scale never before seen.

South Korea and Japan are currently below 1. China might be even lower. People are, generally, resilient and resourceful. Adjustments will be made. People will work into their 70’s and 80’s because there is work to be done. But there will be a great deal of suffering.

Tell your mom that God made you trans, and God doesn’t make mistakes. He also has a lot to say about how we should love each other. You can’t change being trans, but you will pray about it and deal with it in the best way available, by transitioning.

Tell your dad that the science is not super clear, but whatever he is reading decided their conclusion first and then looked for data to back up their predudices.

Tell them both that you want to have a good relationship with them, but if they keep sparking arguments trying to convince you they know more about your brain, body, and soul then you do, you will have to limit the time your spend with them for your own well being.

My mom cried when I came out to her. We didn’t talk about it for years. I told her when I started hormones, and while we had some rocky days, she always maintained that she loves me and wants me to be happy. We are closer than ever, and she introduces me as her daughter now.

I hope your parents come along to love and affirmation eventually.

Sure, but stars don’t decay before our eyes.

Everything you just said applies to hospitals as well.

In any single moment, that’s true, but over time they inevitably become one and the same.

The hospitals underpaid maintenance team vrs a licensed tech from the manufacturer is a false dichotomy. The choice could easily be the hospital’s underpaid maintenance team or no repairs at all.

Realistically, they don’t put grandma on the vent because they won’t buy or keep a device they can’t afford to repair.

And why would the company spend more time/effort on their repair staff than the hospital? The company license is no guarantee they aren’t minimum wage nobodies.