Men Need Not Apply

Birth rates are moving fast. Probably the only societal shift to penetrate the whole as fast l as the smartphone did. Just like the smartphone rates of growth are seen effectively in both the first and third world. implying economic conditions are not a factor.

What has been a social change that has affected every nation over the past 50 years?

Women’s Sovereignty. Rates of women’s higher education participation are almost directly proportional to the decline in child birth.

This is great news on it’s own. More people having more opportunity is a net good. But the devil is in the second order effects. As a women is enrolled in higher levels of education the chances of her having a child decrees and the timeline for the happening also extends. This can been seen at both a micro and macro level.

*(Not sure what is up with 50-54, probably an error in collection)

And that begs to question, when a women is given the choice, and they choose higher education. That might mean that alternative was pretty shitty. By giving women agency over their own destiny we accidentally destroyed whatever made the nuclear family work. It’s great people have more agency, but nothing is without it’s consciences.

What happens next?

Two fold issue, with women already outpacing men in rates of collage degrees. Most of them will be priced higher then the average man. Settling, I suspect, will never been an option. Not in todays world. A market will simply appear to meet your demand. You never settle, you keep swiping… Something something… Whatever the boomers say. The reason your grandparents got married was because one of them got pregnant or they were the best option available. But times are different. Algos rule all and attention is lacking.

Point being there is about to a glut of highly educated women with not enough men to meet demand.

*Men are failing, maybe this is due to an eduction system that biases the female attention spans or something more systemic, regardless men’s rising rates of NEEThood is worthy of another post for another day.

My guess for what will happen next is children will become commoditized just as common household dog or cat.

You hit 40? you had a dog? you own a house? Cool, time for a surrogate mom to give you a kid or for you to head to the sperm bank. Men need not apply anymore.

The act of sex and in turn partnership, will become decoupled from procreation in my lifetime.

There is a shocking number of women that already fit into this category. Either unwilling or unable to find a long term partner. Highly educated, moderately wealthy. If you could have the perfect man essentially distilled down to a spreadsheet. 6ft, 120 iq, Masters degree, hobbies in the arts, currently in therapy. And you could turn that into a commodity you would be a trillionaire. If you can find a way to commoditize their sperm you can become a billionaire. This remains illegal in most countries, but I suspect not for very long.

Everything will become productized

The notion that a child is one that is made of your own blood is an antiquated notion. Every parent wants the best for their children, that will include their genetic makeup. Before we are confident in editing the genome this is the next best option. An option that is available today. Find the best sperm, find the best egg. Create 6 IVF runs, Screen for the best attributes, and more importantly screen out for any defects or diseases.

Not having an IVF screened child will been seen as radical and crazy as not vaccinating your kids is today.

The only reason things are not productized are because of inefficiencies in the marketplace. Relationships and Children will become productized. Wether that takes the form of surrogate clinics with menus selecting what kind of sperm you want or AI companions that you entrust with your every secret.

The alternatives to both are messy and sticky. They require more then a credit card swipe.

Bet big, bet on IVF, bet on Surrogates, bet on sperm banks.

*I plan to have 11 children, with the best genes screened for, and the rest thrown out, Bullish on humanity. Love life or Coup de grâce.