Jonathan Davies 2008-02-14

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

This book is very interesting and insightful. It is very interesting to learn about the conditions that caused the world to have high birth rates in the first place and about the conditions that have caused birth rates to be so low in recent years. It is also good to see that there is a solution to the aging of the world's population, and to learn about the changes that need to be made in order to solve this problem. I really like books that offer solutions to major problems.

mianfei 2007-10-01

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

I first became curious about "The Empty Cradle" when I was reading about Europe's demographic decline as a student of geopolitics in my last years at the University of Melbourne.

Fearing the threat of a radically conservative religious takeover, I was curious as to what should be done, and I found "The Empty Cradle" by Phillip Longman and was curious. After buying the book, I have never been disappointed and have recommended this work to a great many people whom I know or have known.

Phillip Longman, as not only this book but also his articles at the New America Foundation website demonstrate, is a brilliant writer who manages to transcend the boundaries of left and right without succumbing to predictable "wishy washy" centrism. In every section of "The Empty Cradle" he looks very clearly at every possible alternative and is remarkably effective at understanding how possible answers to declining birth rates are likely to be correct or incorrect. His illustration of essential issues like the present state of affairs in the most critically affected nations, the skyrocketing cost of children, the problems an aging society will face, and possible remedies that will avoid the problem of a state ruled by religious law and lack of freedom for women stands as masterful. He is, in fact, firmly principled and resolute in a way people seeking to bridge problematic political divides which both him and myself understand to relate to the issues mentioned above.

Similarly, Longman's viewpoint (like many conservatives) of the utility of home-based economics actually resonates well with me even though I have never married or even dated - probably because so much of what I have learned was never taught to me at school. As I see it, Longman is right that the ability to combine work, family and education is a major step forward for more affordable families. Yet, Longman sees beyond the typical stereotypes of the Right with his remarkable assessment of how societal health problems like obesity could be solved - like how old railways could be redeveloped as cycling paths.

Longman and his New America Foundation have been called "liberal" and "right wing" - in fact they are neither, and "The Empty Cradle" is a work of truly rare intelligence and logic. I strongly recommend it to all readers, despite the negative reviews.

C. Lopez 2007-02-20

8 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

Longman's book portraits old Eugenic fears in modern times, and even worst, some old Eugenic "solutions" for the "Depopulation problem". Longman should read about Eugenics history and learn all the damage it caused to humankind. He can start learning by reading "Demography and Degeneration: Eugenics and the Declining Birthrate in Twentieth-Century Britain" by Richard A. Soloway.

Richard Gibson 2007-02-15

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

Since at least the publication of Paul Ehrlich's The Population Bomb, it has been accepted wisdom that overpopulation is a global crisis which threatens the existence of civilization. Recently, however, birthrates have fallen dramatically all around the world. The rates have fallen so much that populations have begun to decline in some nations, such as Russia and Japan, and population decline faces most nations, unless the trends change.

A number of books have been written on this subject. Mark Steyn's America Alone dealis extensively with this issue, in Steyn's unique way. Ben Wattenberg's book Fewer is a very intelligent examination of the issue.

This book, however, is the best on the subject. Longman has simply thought harder about this issue than anyone else. He has a tremendous amount to say, both about the issue itself and its various implications.

Oddly, he deals more intelligently with the subject of religion than the other authors do. Longman is hostile to religion; he is a secular liberal. He is thus able to see what many others miss; strongly religious groups do NOT have falling birthrates. To Longman, this is a cause for tremendous concern. He sees a future in which Mormoms, evangelicals and other religious types take over the world through the simple fact that they still are having large families.

Amazon customer 2007-02-03

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

I was drawn to this book because I was writing an article on how fears about population decline affect society's views on the importance of individual women's rights. In other words, at many times throughout history, hysteria about national population decline has often led to a weakening of society's support of women's rights to equal education and job opportunities as many argued that a woman's #1 duty to the state was to produce healthy offspring to fuel the economy and strengthen the military. This book addresses this issue as well as the connection between population decline and the rise of reactionary governments (fascism) and xenophobia. As the author seems to be coming from a somewhat "progressive" perspective, he warns that it is currently the more religiously conservative groups/cultures/nations that continue to reproduce at high levels whereas the more modernized, educated segments of society are having fewer and fewer children. This is a source of concern for the author as he prophesies a possible return to religious fundamentalism and ultra-conservative governments throughout the world. In its discussion of these issues, I found the book useful and interesting. I also like the fact that the author doesn't simply say that women need to return to their roles as housewives and have lots of babies. Rather, he suggests government policies that will make it easier for educated, working women to have children. While such suggestions will not sit well with conservatives, I personally think this is a preferable alternative (women like myself simply are not interested in giving up our financial well-being, careers and personal interests to become full-time housewives). And of course, not many men are making enough money to support a wife and children anyway. Traditionalists need to wake up to this reality.

That said, I am a bit skeptical about some of the alarmist tendencies in this book. The biggest population decline is occurring in the industrialized nations. However, we consume a disproportionate share of the world's resources. There simply are not enough natural resources on the planet for everyone to live as well as we do. Also, future shortages in vital resources like water and oil are serious threats as they could lead to more armed conflict as nations try to secure their hold on these necessities. So, from an environmental perspective, I don't know that the future population decline is really such a dangerous thing.

This debate over population decline is a very controversial issue since it touches on hot button issues such as the reproductive rights of women (i.e., birth control and abortion), immigration (fears that immigrant populations will surpass the "white" populations of the industrialized world), and environmental destruction. So, Mr. Longman could not have possibly suggested solutions that would please a vast segment of his potential readers. For one perspective on the situation, however, it is worth reading.