Stop Blaming the Economy for the Baby Bust. The Truth Is Much Darker.
Western fertility isn’t collapsing because of housing prices or climate anxiety. It’s collapsing because we redefined adulthood as the absence of sacrifice. A culture that worships self-actualization has no mechanism for its own continuation — and the women who opt out of motherhood aren’t selfish. They’re perfectly rational within a value system that makes children feel like annihilation.