this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2026
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GenZedong

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Hi everyone, I'm only interested in hearing from comrades so that's why I thought this could be a good community to post, but if you think this is the wrong community please direct me somewhere else!

Today I was talking to someone somewhat close to me, he mentioned countries like Germany have an aging population and a falling birth rate and I pointed out that I believe it's connected to the cost of living crisis (especially with the expensive energy imports and with governments happily destroying the welfare state) and my friend said that he doesn't buy it and that in his opinion it's hedonism (?).

I find that kind of argument unprovable and moralistic, but it caught me off guard and I figured I'd take this as a learning opportunity. Have you heard this kind of argumentation? Am I right to assume it's just a reactionary thing? Is this worth engaging with, even if it's just for criticism, and if so how? Or should I just move on? I can't cut contact with him but I can just change the topic again if it comes to that lol.

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[–] Commiejones@lemmygrad.ml 11 points 3 weeks ago

Its not about cost of living as much as it is the amount of wage labor expected. Wage labor takes people away from their homes and partners for a significant part of the day. All that time apart means less time to do the deed and less social bonding.

On top of that the rise of dual income homes means all the unpaid labor of house work has to get done in the 8 waking hours not spent doing wage labor or sleeping. So instead of the "bread winner" coming home from work and relaxing while the house spouse does the unpaid labor of cooking and cleaning they have to do that after putting in a day at work. No time to rest means no energy to get frisky.