Pronatalism: What Is It and Why Do Billionaires Love the Idea?

Em 1946, is prepared by the UN (United Nations Organization) a human rights commission. In general, rights cover fundamental guarantees universally: health, food, safety and freedom🇧🇷 And what does pronatalism have to do with it? Keep with us and we'll explain soon!

Considered a disturbing and uncomfortable term for many, pronatalism is a silent movement, but much supported by billionaires and elites.

Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world, father of 10 children, is currently the most prominent pronatalist, although not officially. This connection, however, increased people's curiosity about the subject.

How did pronatalism arise?

Pronatalism originates in France under Louis XIV. The King of France granted privileges to men who had more than 10 legitimate children, as he believed that the patriarchal order was a social foundation.

According to reports produced by the United Nations, currently, more than a quarter of countries have some policy of pronatalism in their laws. From benefits for infertility treatments, to monetary incentives for people who want to have more children. 

At the same time, some assisted reproduction companies also appear in the market, attracting the attention and money of investors and fomenting the fertility industry that, according to Research and Markets, could reach 78 billion dollars in 2025.

This trend has been rising quietly in technology groups, which makes the movement increasingly respected among the most powerful people in the world — such as Elon Musk🇧🇷 After all, the drop in birth rates in certain countries, such as the United States of America and some regions of Europe, will lead to the extinction of cultures, collapse of economies and civilization.

At least, that's the theory that Tesla's owner supports on Twitter, the social network he bought in October of this year. He still receives support from other important people in the field, such as Ross Douthat, who defended pronatalism in his column on The New York Times🇧🇷 the comedian Joe Rogan, where, next to the billionaire Marc andreesen, also commented on the topic in “The Joe Rogan Experience”, podcast program available on the internet.

The concern with legacies is something that has always been on the minds of millionaires. In the past decade, for example, it has seen some industry titans, including Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon, pour billions of dollars into some biotech companies to defy death🇧🇷 However, despite research having made some advances and being able to combat specific diseases, a radical change in the longevity of these people seems increasingly unlikely.

So they turn to something more tangible and accessible in the moment: their descendants. Since, according to the line of thought of the powerful, if they transmit their superior DNA to the next generations, the definitive path for them to remain influential will be complete.

The problem that pronatalism creates

The rule within pronatalism is clear: reproduction to avoid population decline🇧🇷 But when we leave quality of life aside and focus on a specific class of people, what can happen?

Because of the large demonstrations of Elon Musk on social networks about the problem that some regions may face in the future, due to the low birth rate, searches on “Population Collapse” had a huge increase on Google.

To increase their populations, some governments trample on rights. Quality of life ceases to be an important factor. Children become objects, and no longer thinking and sensitive beings, with the right to choose. The demographic paradox and the revival of pronatalism discard humanity, exalting mass reproduction. Not everyone, but the people considered "correct". It's a big racist "grand replacement theory" conspiracy.

For example, some companies are already able to offer parents the test PGT-P (preimplantation for polygenic diseases), a controversial genetic experiment that allows parents who are undergoing laboratory-assisted fertilization to select the “best” embryos available. This is based on several factors: among them, the risk of hereditary diseases.

All this obsession with biotechnical research so that only the best genes are passed on, in addition to the increasingly intense campaigns about pronatalism, especially among the rich, can lead our society to a new wave of Eugenics🇧🇷 This movement grew during World War II and aimed to select a few specific people to keep the best characteristics in future generations.

How are Pronatalism and Eugenics related?

The concept of Eugenics was created by Francis Galton (1822-1911). The etymology of the word comes from the Greek, which means “Well Born”, mixing the terms “Eu”, which means “good”, and “Genia”, which is related to “birth”. As already mentioned, this theory defends the selection of ideal members of society, encouraging them to reproduce with each other to improve the genes of their children. The idea continues with this improvement with each new generation.

This logical reasoning was also based on the thoughts of Charles Darwin, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck and other researchers of the concept of “Natural Selection”. However, despite the scientific guise that this term has, the movement was more focused on the social side, which aimed, at the time, to prevent the reproduction of undesirables in society – such as drug addicts, prostitutes or even people with hereditary diseases. Not only that, this “prohibition” also extended to marginalized populations, such as ethnic minorities and the like.

The speech of improvement of the human species, since its creation, unfortunately, has brought several consequences for society throughout history. In the United States, the theory served to create anti-miscegenation laws, which prohibited interracial marriage and motivated black, Latino or indigenous women to be sterilized so that they would not reproduce. These policies were in effect in the US in the 70s.

However, the greatest example of the use of this eugenic logic could be seen during the Second World War. Germany, led by the Nazi movement, was guided by the concepts created by Francis Galton to exterminate the Jewish population and other undesirable members, who should not have a place in the Aryan race.

The movement was also strong in Brazil during the 1930s. The theory married the racist thinking of some spheres of the national population and, with the support of doctors and the elite, there was an attempt to improve the Brazilian people, influencing various policies of the country at that time: from isolating the mentally ill to the creation of anti-immigration laws from non-European peoples.

Following the logic of the billionaires who frequent Silicon Valley, the pronatalism incentives they defend are not very different from Eugenics. As already mentioned in the text, they believe that their responsibility is to combat the social and economic collapse caused by low birth rates in developed countries, but not all descendants are able to face these problems. They need to be genetically superior to the rest, as this is the only way they will be able to combat the threats of the future.

Simone e Malcolm Collins, for example, there are two other great millionaire defenders of pronatalism, as they believe that the movement needs to be seen as modern and welcoming, especially for certain people. Responsible for the website Pronatalist, the couple also mentions that, in order to make a better future, it is necessary to choose between increasing educational results among the poorest 10% of the population in the world or the top 0,1%. For them, the second option is more viable.

Elon Musk seems to like this idea too, since among his many projects created is the Ad Astra, a school he created primarily for his children and those of some SpaceX employees. The school broke with the traditional method of teaching, leaving aside some human sciences to focus on the practice of robotics, exact and computational sciences. 

Now, his teaching ideas seem to continue to expand, as there is also the project Astra Nova, online teaching that focuses on applying the teaching method designed by Elon Musk for children aged 10 to 14 years. According to the official website, the school “is an experimental project, so expect new ideas every year”.

They wish to have control of Human Evolution, especially with the technological evolutions brought about. If scientists at companies like Conception succeed in creating embryos from stem cells, combined with improved genetic screening, parents could choose the “ideal” baby from thousands of possible options.

The closing thought

In this way, eugenics and pronatalism planned by members of Silicon Valley become synonymous with racist and discriminatory theories, controlled by certain social groups that, in their view, wish to exterminate people considered “inferior”. This approach has already been used at other times in the past, but it never brought positive consequences for society and still seems to follow the same path.

Such ideals, defended by Elon Musk, promote the division of the Human Race into species that can be classified, and only the best are chosen to occupy the positions of power in the world. This affects the Human Rights, influencing Freedom and Equality rights. 

Biology, for example, also no longer accepts that humans are classified into different categories, as happens with other species, since our behavioral and cultural characteristics are more linked to learning and the context in which we are inserted throughout life, than what a genetic inheritance.

In addition, although Elon Musk's lines suggest that the population has stopped growing, the fact is that, per year, around 80 million new people come to populate the world and, according to projections from the ONU, there is little chance of these numbers being stabilized by the end of this century. Thus, we will still continue to consume much more than our planet can produce.

See more:

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SOURCES: Business Insider, UOL, Population Matters