Why the panic regarding dropping birth rate? I think less is more knowing where we are heading.

[sword_9mm]

I wonder why these places have high turnover and have staffing issues. Is it the nature of the job itself? Management? The people they deal with?

I'd wager all 3 then that goes to 'I ain't paid enough to deal with this shit'.

This is one of those jobs that should be automated as much as possible. People barely want to clean up after themselves; who wants to clean up Grandma's shit while she's cussing you out and surly all day?

 

[concernUrsus]

I wonder why these places have high turnover and have staffing issues. Is it the nature of the job itself? Management? The people they deal with?

burnout is real. It takes certain kind of mindset to work these kind of jobs (beyond the usually problems of overwork, toxic bosses, etc.). I actually know someone who prefers nursing home/end of life care than hospital. She prefers it as the stress of hoping patient recovery is a lot lower. She did it for ~20 plus years (not in USA).

By the way, private equality have entered the nursing home industry. The outcome is expected (general worse outcome for patients and workers)

 

[N4M8-]

I wonder why these places have high turnover and have staffing issues. Is it the nature of the job itself? Management? The people they deal with?

It is hard work doing things a lot of people would not want to (imagine checking a 170 lb. man periodically to see if his diaper is wet and changing him if he is, particularly if he is non-communicative due to dementia--and that is only one ongoing bit of care he needs). Now add in companies figured out at least 25 to 30 years ago that an aging population was a market opportunity. But companies are responsible to shareholders, not patient/residents. So keeping costs down is an imperative, so staff have to do a lot with a little.

Co-worker who had dealt with a situation similar to mine noted she wanted to go in with people she knew to setup a facility they would own so when time came they would be owner-residents and staff would have to keep them happy. Seems like a great idea to me.

Btw, word of advice for those who have never been in the situation before...

Cultivate friendship with someone on staff if you have a loved one at a facility. That person will let you know when things are going wrong with the care your loved one is getting. I moved my dad more than a half dozen times thanks to being tipped off. Ohhh...and regardless of how good a place is, do not expect that to last indefinitely. High turnover means it won't last.

 

[MacBrave]

Perhaps the writer of the Georgia Guidestones was on to something?:

Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.

Guide reproduction wisely – improving fitness and diversity.

Unite humanity with a living new language.

Rule passion – faith – tradition – and all things with tempered reason.

Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.

Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.

Avoid petty laws and useless officials.

Balance personal rights with social duties.

Prize truth – beauty – love – seeking harmony with the infinite.

Be not a cancer on the Earth – Leave room for nature – Leave room for nature.

 

[Robin-3]

There is no reason to be angry at them. Society has trained us all to pull the ladder up behind us, no matter what generation they belong to. The default setting is basically "I got mine, fuck off". That mentality is everywhere around us.

...eh, gotta disagree. I used to see things this way, but now: anger.

It is kind of funny though, the more technologically advanced we get, the less humane we become.

Not sure I agree with this, although I admit that does kind of undermine my earlier statement.

 

[Exordium01]

I respectfully disagree and would ask that you consider the following issues:
1) climate change
2) global ecological collapse (including most alarmingly global fisheries)
3) the catastrophic loss of biodiversity over the last century

The impact of 8 billion humans on earth is likely to be worse than the impact of the comet that killed the dinosaurs; the Anthropocene is shaping up to be one of the biggest mass extinction events in earth's history.

Again, you're conflating overconsumption and concentration of wealth with overpopulation. A minority of the population is responsible for the majority of the damage.

Dickens made fun of this exact argument in A Christmas Carol 175 183 years ago. Overpopulation is a hypothesis, not a truism.

Edit: I think I'm not being explicit enough in my critique. Overpopulation is what overconsumers who don't want to admit their role in the issue default on in order to absolve themselves of responsibility. That was exactly how Dickens meant it when Scrooge used the line and that holds true to this day.

7B humans absolutely could coexist on Earth in an acceptable homeostasis, it would mean rewilding large parts of the globe and increasing population density greatly in certain areas.

 

[llanitedave]

How so? It's an observable phenomenon we can see in South Korea, Japan, and China.

I didn't argue this.

It's not a demographic issue, it's a social, cultural, and technological issue. What it tells us is that our current social customs and expectations are unsustainable. But this culture is not a god-given engraved commandment. A lower birthrate is primarily a problem for a consumer economy, and for an oligarchy that feeds off of it. The species can exist in prosperity, robust health, and sustainability with one-tenth its current numbers. It can sustain itself as well as those who are past their working years. Fewer people could allow less intensive agriculture and resource extraction, allowing the forests and grasslands and oceans the breathing space to replenish themselves. Fewer people could have their energy needs met through renewable technology like wind and solar, organic chemicals needed for fuel, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals can be sourced via specialty crops, most of the mineral requirements of industry can be sourced from the leftovers of the previous overpopulated civilization.

We live in an economy now that is so dependent on ever-growing consumption that it has resorted to consuming itself. We don't have to go back to hunting and gathering to reverse that paradigm, but we can't sustain permanent growth, either.

 

[llanitedave]

7B humans absolutely could coexist on Earth in an acceptable homeostasis, it would mean rewilding large parts of the globe and increasing population density greatly in certain areas.

While probably true, it's also true that humans are no more psychologically adapted for large population densities than are rats.

 

[QtDevSvr]

7B humans absolutely could coexist on Earth in an acceptable homeostasis, it would mean rewilding large parts of the globe and increasing population density greatly in certain areas.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this homeostatic 7B vision. What sort of density, major life style differences from the present, etc. Not asking for a dissertation. Just some sort of sketch to discuss.

 

[Slothur the Hasty]

...eh, gotta disagree. I used to see things this way, but now: anger.

Not sure I agree with this, although I admit that does kind of undermine my earlier statement.

Do share your thoughts a bit more.

 

[Slothur the Hasty]

Overpopulation is what overconsumers who don't want to admit their role in the issue default on in order to absolve themselves of responsibility.

And then there is the overconsumption due to how the economy generally works that a large part of the world population cannot escape since there are few or no other options. Planned obsolescence etc as how things work today, you are forced to consume. Very few things in this world is built to last, and too many things are made so that you need to replace it.

Dubai LED bulbs comes to mind. The tech is certainly there, but i guess Philips would be bankrupt if this was the norm. Then there is the ton of white goods for example that you simply cannot fix, they are just disposable. The huge amount of plastics used that are not really necessary, wrapping and such. Please do tell me how you plan to live and prosper without being a part of this evil circle.

Dubai bulbs:

https://images.philips.com/is/conte...20160920_001-UPD-en_SA-Philips-Dubai-Lamp.pdf