Demography is not destiny. As Giacomo Casanova explained over two
centuries ago: 'There is no such thing as destiny. We ourselves shape
our own lives.'
Today we are shaping them and our societies more than ever before.
Globally, we have never had fewer children per adult: our population is
about to stabilize, though we do not know when or at what number, or
what will happen after that. It will be the result of billions of very
private decisions influenced in turn by multiple events and policies,
some more unpredictable than others. More people are moving further
around the world than ever before: we too often see that as frightening,
rather than as indicating greater freedom. Similarly, we too often
lament greater ageing, rather than recognizing it as a tremendous human
achievement with numerous benefits to which we must adapt.
Demography comes to the fore most positively when we see that we have
choices, when we understand variation and when we are not deterministic
in our prescriptions. The study of demography has for too long been
dominated by pessimism and inhuman, simplistic accounting. As this
fascinating and persuasive overview demonstrates, how we understand our
demography needs to change again.
