“And they’re all for some reason living in underground cities and eating algae at almost the population that we have today.”ĭystopian scenarios may make for exciting stories, but often their predictions are so dire that they inspire hopelessness rather than resolve. “The whole theme of the robot novels is that there are these incredibly low living standards on Earth, which describes, if I’m remembering it correctly, as having a population of 8 billion people,” he says. Yglesias says that the grim futures depicted in these stories are not based in reality. Drawing on examples and solutions from around the world, Yglesias shows not only that we can do this, but why we must.This vision stands in stark contrast to sci-fi books and movies such as Soylent Green and The Caves of Steel, which present population growth as a recipe for disaster. What really contributes to national prosperity should not be controversial: supporting parents and children, welcoming immigrants and their contributions, and exploring creative policies that support growth-like more housing, better transportation, improved education, revitalized welfare, and climate change mitigation. Vox founder Yglesias invites us to think bigger, while taking the problems of decline seriously. The winner in the future world is going to have more-more ideas, more ambition, more utilization of resources, more people.Įxactly how many Americans do we need to win? According to Matthew Yglesias, one billion.įrom one of our foremost policy writers, One Billion Americans is the provocative yet logical argument that if we aren’t moving forward, we’re losing. We can’t compete with the huge population clusters of the global marketplace by keeping our population static or letting it diminish, or with our crumbling transit and unaffordable housing.
If the most challenging crisis in living memory has shown us anything, it’s that America has lost the will and the means to lead. What would actually make America great: more people. A bold case for massive population growth in the name of national greatness-from Vox co-founder and host of “The Weeds” podcast Matt Yglesias.
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