There is much talk today about the "fiscal cliff" over which we may be about to tumble. Jonathan V. Last writes in the Weekly Standard about what he calls "the demographic cliff," by which he means the less-than-replacement birthrates of essentially all developed countries.
Let's try saying what nobody is willing to say: that emancipated women - women free to make their own choices about how many children they'll have - don't have children at a replacement rate. The only countries in which birthrates are at or above replacement are those in which women have few or no rights.
This poses an interesting dilemma. Individual rights (for women) and the rights of our species to survive and thrive are in conflict. And ... almost no one is talking about this particular elephant in the room.
