Statistics is a well-established, mathematical discipline. Its accuracy in predicting large-scale phenomenon by collecting and analyzing huge volumes of relevant data is pretty much an accepted science. The U. S. Census Bureau engages in statistical analysis to predict population trends for many government purposes. Their predictions for population distribution by age, gender, ethnicity and birth and death rates over the next several decades should send shivers down the backs of freedom-loving Americans. Based on those predictions, holding on to America’s sovereignty and its Constitutional Republic may be virtually impossible. America is aging and aging rapidly. That fact alone has huge implications on America’s future.
But that’s not all. The population is increasing rapidly as well. Today, America’s population is around 326,000,000. By 2058, the population will top 400,000,000, according to the prognosticators. How do you govern 400,000,000 people without infringing on the rights of the individual? The fact is, you can’t. Crime will grow, especially in inner cities so more cops, judges, courts and jails will be needed. More medical facilities will be an absolute necessity to care for the increasing elderly population. Artificial intelligence will be replacing jobs, so more people will be out of work requiring more unemployment and welfare benefits. With less people working and paying taxes, the national debt will rise to heights no one thought possible, as America borrows its way into national bankruptcy due to the Democrat socialists’ insane and suicidal policy of IRRATIONAL COMPASSION.
In 1950, Americans over 65 years of age represented only 8% of the total population. In 2017, they represented 17.6%, more than a doubling in 67 years. According to “Statista 2019” by 2050, seniors over 65 will represent 22.1%. By 2035 seniors over 65 will surpass the number of children in America.
Social Security is slowly running out of workers to support the growing number of seniors. Today there are 2.9 workers for every retiree. By the year 2030 it is predicted that there will only be 2 workers for every retiree. When Social Security dropped below 3 workers per retiree, the system became unstable. According to the latest Social Security Trustee Report, the SS trust fund will be exhausted by 2033. Then what?
What is not reflected in the raw statistics is the degree of dependency on medical and government services for seniors that will rise dramatically as people enter their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. As the population ages, the need and cost of servicing an aging population rises exponentially since the largest share of medical services occur as seniors approach end of life.
Medicare (established in 1965) was supposed to be the panacea to pay for the health care of those over 65 for many decades to come. However, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, Part A, will be depleted by 2026. In other words, it will be out of money. What then?
Total Medicare expenditures represent 15% of total federal spending. Medicare spending is expected to grow at an annual rate of 5.1% over the next decade. If the annual federal budget is $4 Trillion, American taxpayers and Medicare recipients are paying $600 Billion for Medicare, scheduled to rise by 5.1% ($30.6 Billion) every year for the next 10 years.
Medicare is a social (socialist) federally funded program from taxpayer dollars and insurance premiums deducted from social security payments. But as the population ages, significant changes will have to be instituted to save Medicare. Age limits and premiums will have to be increased and benefits decreased. After that will come health care rationing for seniors, because rationing is a direct result of government-run health care.
Medicare recipients (over 65) are a huge voting block and can influence any election that has a medical component that would affect Medicare benefits. That includes presidents. Most aging seniors don’t care about the Constitution or individual freedom. They care about staying alive by relying on government services. That’s socialism.
Now just imagine if the socialist-Democrats regain power in both Houses and win the Presidency in 2020 and they pass Medicare For All. Estimated costs for Medicare For All range from $28 Trillion to $32 Trillion over a decade. That’s $2.8 Trillion to $3.2 Trillion per year. This cost would almost double the government’s annual budget to over $7 Trillion, or 34% of the Gross Domestic Product of $20.5 Trillion. Where is the money going to come from to pay for this doubling of the federal budget? Right out of the pockets of the middle class in the form of massive tax increases. If you think your taxes are bad now, just wait until your socialist Democrats seize control of the United States of America!
The rise in Medicare costs due to aging of the population does not include the explosive growth in Medicaid, health care for the poor and a socialist government program. Federal Medicaid spending represents 10% of the federal budget. That equals about $400 Billion. The federal cost of Medicare and Medicaid together surpasses the $1 Trillion mark annually.
Aging of the population and the cost to taxpayers to pay for it all is not the only thing that will affect our Founding Father’s Republic. Let’s look at the changing Demographics on ethnicity.
White birth rates are 57.2 per 1,000 women and are dropping. White European men and women built America and gave us the foundation of individual liberty and unalienable rights. Whites vote 44% Democrat.
In contrast, Black birth rates are 63.1 per 1,000 women and rising. Blacks vote 90%+ Democrat. Blacks are still suffering from decades of discrimination and most blacks will look to government (socialist Democrats) to solve their problems and they will want the taxpayer to pay for whatever it costs. That’s socialism.
Hispanic birth rates are 67.6 per 1,000 women and they are also rising. Hispanics vote 69% Democrat. Many Hispanics come from poor countries that have for centuries been dependent on government in one form or another. Looking to government to solve individual problems is second nature to them and they will vote accordingly.
The effects of unchecked illegal Central American and Mexican immigration and 14th Amendment anchor babies will ultimately be part of the changing political mindset towards more socialism. It is unavoidable and under the current political climate, unstoppable.
On top of all this we have rising drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness that will require billions and billions of taxpayer money to treat. American culture is on the decline, brought about by its own prosperity.
Over 80% of the population in America, live in big cities. Big cities, by their very nature, lean heavily towards socialism. The fact is, a hungry belly has nothing to lose by petitioning (or protesting) their government for a handout. If people are hungry enough, they have nothing to lose by resorting to violence. They either turn to the government or they turn to crime. The government is all-too-willing to provide that assistance in return for votes and thus socialism was born in big cities and socialism is where big cities are today. Way too many people live in big cities and are incapable of helping themselves when times get tough. Government thrives and grows on big-city dependency.
Then there is a steady drumbeat of socialism and radical environmentalism in our public schools and colleges. America’s children and even their parents have been brainwashed with special interest socialist and environmental agendas for at least the last two generations. That includes the flawed science of climate change. Is anyone stopping it? No!
Blacks and Hispanics are growing faster than Whites and will eventually be such a large voting block they will overwhelm those Americans that still believe in a Constitutional Republic and the vision of the Founding Fathers. This ethnic socialist voting block, coupled with the over 65 Medicare crowd and big-city voters, will be a force so large as to render the Conservative vote impotent. Since our government representatives are nothing more than a mirror of the population, a socialist America is a foregone conclusion.
Now add to the unavoidable effects of changing population demographics, the move towards world government and the impacts of the massive funding for the alleged crisis of climate change and other ill conceived, insanely expensive socialist programs. These will forever change the character of America away from the foundation of its liberty and national sovereignty. The recent worldwide protests demanding governments do something about climate change just shows how effective the national and international socialist Democrats have been in brainwashing an entire planet for a government fraud.
America will eventually merge into a socialist and radical environmental one-world mentality and its exceptionalism resulting from its early freedom will fade into some page in a history book, labeled under failed government experiments.
There is no way to stop Americans from aging. There appears to be no way to stop the drop in white birth rates and the rise of Black and Hispanic birth rates. The slow, cultural disintegration of the black community won’t stop until black fathers come back into the family. Single black women with children (70%) will always turn to government for subsistence. They live in a socialist, dependency bubble from which there is little chance of escape.
We might be able to slow the process down if we could get a handle on illegal immigration by closing our borders and removing the magnets that are enticing illegal aliens to migrate to America in the first place. But that would require the cooperation of the Democrats to drastically strengthen the asylum policies and repeal chain migration and visa lotteries. In addition, a U. S. Supreme Court decision would be required to remove the anchor baby interpretation. To have any appreciable effect, it would also entail the massive deportation of all illegal aliens that now reside in America. Not one of these actions is likely to happen in the foreseeable future, if ever.
It is quite likely that the reader won’t accept what we have presented in this article and they may reject it out of hand. Nevertheless, as the reader sits there pondering these inescapable demographic realities, he or she may begin to wonder why even waste the time and effort to try to stop something that in all likelihood is a fait accompli? How can you preserve, much less defend, something that is un-preservable simply because of cold, hard, impersonal demographics, over which you have no control?
The only conclusion that one can come to is that either a man-made (civil war or revolution) or natural disaster has any chance of stopping the demographic avalanche from happening. The only other possibility is by some feat of magic a minority (freedom-loving Americans) can somehow convince the socialist majority that they are unknowingly headed down a path towards destruction, national oblivion and enslavement.
Sadly, we are no longer Americans for America and freedom’s sake. The vast majority of Americans have become non-thinking members of a constituency-voting block, voting or lobbying for things they can get FROM government for free, (at taxpayer expense) or protesting against government for things that government is proposing to take away. Politicians have become nothing more than snake oil salesmen selling their soul for your vote by promising to give you something that isn’t theirs to give so that they can remain in power.
It gives us no pleasure to bring these inescapable realities into your living room. But we deal in realities, not wish lists or myths and the reality is: “Demographics Will Eventually Destroy Our Founding-Father’s Republic” ~ IF we let it.
Is there hope that we can somehow override this Demographic Armageddon? Of course, there is always hope, but only if conservatives act in unison and with one voice against the steep rise of Democratic Socialism.
Or, as Winston Churchill said: “You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.” We’re in that camp!
September 25, 2019
© 2019 Ron Ewart – All Rights Reserved
~ The Author ~
Ron Ewart, a nationally known author and speaker on freedom and property issues and author of his weekly column, “In Defense of Rural America“, is the President of the The National Association of Rural Landowners (NARLO), a non-profit corporation headquartered in Washington State and dedicated to restoring, maintaining and defending property rights for urban and rural landowners. Mr. Ewart can be reached for comment at info@narlo.org.
Mr. Ewart has been a continuing contributor to the Kettle Moraine family of publications since May of 2007.