Comments by "David H" (@DavidHalko) on "How South Korea Is Running Out of Children" video.

@theintrovertadventurer9640 - “don’t feel that having kids would make me happier” Statistically, the older people get, people with children maintain happiness, while people without children see happiness decline. One may then ask the question, why. Only the elderly with & without children can answer why that is the case, but the young don’t figure it out for themselves until it is too late to change the outcome. One must see children as being “along for the ride”, instead of children being a task.
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Traditional Marriage is not a barrier, traditional marriage eliminates poverty. If they want more children, families who have children should be offered subsidies in nearly all social programs, and those without marriage & children should receive less benefits under those social programs
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@iippo06 - “plenty of people in an urban environment with 5-10+ children” And the parents will likely have someone (from the 5-10+ children) to care for them, when they are aging, instead of paying $600/day in a nursing home to keep them alive. Totally cheap trade off.
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@Maybe-cg2tn - I’ve helped raise hundreds of other people’s children, over the past few decades… even with my full time tech job, I’ve always found the parents far more difficult than the children ever were.
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@jacqueslee2592 - “born into economically struggling families” I understand that. “did not have a good family role model” I grew up next to a railroad, literally on the wrong side of the tracks. Substance abuse in my family. Physical abuse. Mental abuse. Divorce. I hear ya. “wouldn’t want to repeat that experience for my child” I recognized my situation, and in the end I found resources on radio & in college to help me repent from bad behaviors & mentor me towards better behaviors. Now, I mentor other young adults, so hundreds won’t have the same experiences that I did, as a child. How did you find a way to change, so you will not emulate what was modeled to you throughout your childhood? “bad career choice” I know a young man who immigrated to the US, learned English in High School, graduated HS, is on his third career change, starting in a bakery, then aircraft mechanic school, now real estate. Have you considered doing a career change? You can do it! “… what a young man needs in his prime” You can do it. I know you can. If the circle of people you are in believe you need those things, you need a new circle of friends. Once you have a new circle of friends, not looking to physical things, you will find that there are a ton of young ladies around who are desperate to find a nice young man!
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Hey @fransmith3255 - once society prioritizes children, over caring for the husband’s extended family, this greater issue can be addressed. Money may not be the root of the issue, but tax policy can demonstrate priorities.
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Hi @fransmith3255 - “children are expensive to raise everywhere, probably even more in the US where there is no free healthcare” In the US, they have federal tax credits per child, health care is free for children in many states, and college is free in states like Georgia for high performing students… so children don’t need to be a significant burden beyond the first boy & first girl (from a 1 bedroom home to a 3 bedroom home.) “Are you going to arbitrarily tax or reduce tax on family attitudes?” If people do not marry, their senior care taxes should be the highest. A discount should be given, for marriage. If a family does not have children, raise their taxes necessary to care for elderly (because they have no one to care for them in the future), reduce elderly care tax for those who have children (because they have children to care for them to some degree, in the future) Tax differences should be escrowed, it becomes a “use” tax, because they did not contribute to the community & must pay for the use of others to care for them. These higher tax rates will encourage people to make more realistic social contract arrangements, by ensuring people understand there is a cost to their decision. Having just spent months driving 12 hours each direction, to spend 1-2 weeks at a clip to care for my mother, children do what they must for their parents. I know many people who traveled long distances to care for aging parents. The alternative of The State caring for our parents is more expensive & less humane… the same way it is more expensive & less humane when the state must care for children. “Money certainly is important to people here, but it isn’t the main issue” It will become an increasingly important issue, as there are fewer younger people to care for the elderly. This is the time to deal with it, by taxing & escrowing the money for the future... a similar way children are an investment for the future for society.
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@shelbysycamore637 - “if traditional marriage wasn’t a barrier and eliminated poverty, then why are you suggesting the government subsidize them and tax those who aren’t married?” Because subsidizing behavior which eliminates poverty & sustains civilization are in the interest of the government since they receive taxes to do both of those things.
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Hi @shelbysycamore637 - “being single and not having children doesn’t put a burden on the tax base” When you are elderly; fall down, and break an ankle — you will be stuck in a nursing home at $600/day… that is absorbed by the tax payer. Children collect their parents from the nursing home to take them back to their own homes, to care & feed them, the same way parents cared & feed their children. “having children takes more resources” Children are an investment, money is a representation of human work, those children will get jobs, work, and create wealth. “worker shortage… immigrants” Those immigrants will have children, because they are likely not infected with the mental disease of socialism that many western people are infected with [self hatred mixed with fear of children & wealth] In the end, the savings of short-cutting children [who eat relatively little food, require relatively little living space, whose language & culture learning is fast] with immigrants [who require greater living space, language & culture learning is slower, and must also learn & gain credentials in the destination nation] is really bogus. I know several excellent dentists, who are immigrants, who can not get their credentials moved, and they are sidelined. This is a huge shame for learned immigrants in our community. The amount of public services for immigrants, regarding health care, housing, food, education… is not well counted, as it is hidden in many other social programs, both public & private. I help mainstream immigrants, so I have a clue… amazing people, disadvantaged in so many ways, by various legal barriers, set up to make them slaves to those who want to import them.
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