Under the Clown's Costume

There is a little-known movement sweeping across the United States. The movement is "natalism." All across the industrialized world, birthrates are falling - in Western Europe, in Canada and in many regions of the United States. People are marrying later and having fewer kids. But spread around this country, and concentrated in certain areas, the natalists defy these trends. They are having three, four or more kids. Their personal identity is defined by parenthood. They are more spiritually, emotionally and physically invested in their homes than in any other sphere of life, having concluded that parenthood is the most enriching and elevating thing they can do. Very often they have sacrificed pleasures like sophisticated movies, restaurant dining and foreign travel, let alone competitive careers and disposable income, for the sake of their parental calling. (...) Natalists resist the declining fertility trends not because of income, education or other socioeconomic characteristics. It's attitudes. People with larger families tend to attend religious services more often, and tend to have more traditional gender roles. (...) Like most Americans, they wonder how we can be tolerant of diverse lifestyles while still preserving the family institutions that are under threat. What they cherish, like most Americans, is the self-sacrificial love shown by parents. People who have enough kids for a basketball team are too busy to fight a culture war.

The New Red-Diaper Babies
By DAVID BROOKS
The New York Times

"Bisogna quindi vigilare il destino della razza, bisogna curare la razza, a cominciare dalla maternità e dall'infanzia. (...) Di qui la tassa sui celibi, alla quale forse in un lontano domani potrebbe fare seguito la tassa sui matrimoni infecondi. (...) Il destino delle Nazioni è legato alla loro potenza demografica"

Benito Mussolini, 26 maggio 1927

English translation:

"We must watch over the destiny of the race, we must take care of the race, starting from maternity and childhood. (...) This is why of the tax for the singles, to which we may add tomorrow the tax on infecund marriages. (...) The destiny of the Nations is linked to their demographic power."