In May of 2006… Vladimir Putin had made Russia’s demographic crisis problem Number One.
Apart from “rogue” politicians like Geert Wilders,Europeans leaders seem only willing to speak of the problem of dismalbirth rates in the Old World by resorting to euphemism and wishfulthinking. Faced with its disastrous postcolonial migration policies,the guilt-ridden establishment is only interested in maintainingdomestic peace and order, when (not if) Europeans become ethnicminorities in their own lands.
It hasn’t always been this way. Modern European states, bothdemocratic and authoritarian, have periodically attempted to boostindigenous population growth, especially after manmade catastrophes.France did it after the First World War and the USSR after the Second.
The USSR’s pro-natalist experience hasn’t been forgotten. What today’sRussia shares with “Europe-proper” is a quasi-colonial past and a poordemographic present. However, rather than mimicking Europe’s defeatism,the Russian government not only took the proverbial bull by the horns,but also forced it to mate!