In my day, we did stuff. We used to shoot things. We made things. We broke things. We fixed things. We burned things. We drove things. We drank. We cussed. We learned. We chewed. We partied. We dated. We . . . well, you get the point. We did stuff.

Not anymore. Shooting is politically incorrect unless the target is a businessman or a conservative figure. Nobody makes anything – they do that in China. Fixing stuff isn’t cost efficient – you just buy a new one. Drinking is down. Dating is done alone in the basement on the internet.

And the stuff that went with dating is down, too. Remember the population explosion? Well, it’s time to forget it. The latest and greatest explosion is de-population.

The worldwide birthrate is barely enough to replace us. In Europe, America, China, Japan, South Korea and most of the rest of Asia and South America, it’s less than what is necessary to replace us. In most parts of the world, humans are on the road to extinction.

Babies are passe, restrictive, demanding, expensive, unappreciative and unappreciated. “Be fruitful and multiply” has been replaced with “Let’s buy a Tesla and drive to Italy!”

As it turns out, people never did like babies much. They had them for the same reasons they had abortions – because men liked sex and women were too lazy to practice birth control.

Three things have changed – one in women, one in both women and men, and one in men.

First, women have come a long way, baby, and not just in taking up smoking and then quitting. They’ve learned contraception. Yes, it took about 60 years, but it happened. Women are no longer too lazy to practice birth control.

Second, both women and men are more wary about sexually transmitted diseases. There are consequences to having sex like rabbits with whatever can’t outrun them. Unsurprisingly, exchanging bodily fluids is a great way to exchange pathogens who are along for the ride.

Third, men are losing their mojo. The average male testosterone level has been declining for two generations. The average peaked when I was a young man, and that’s not just because I personally kept it up (I’m speaking of the average).

No, the reason male testosterone levels are declining is that young “men” today are pussies. The reasons for that are debatable, but everyone knows it’s true. Young men today think of sex with a woman the way they think of changing the oil in the car all alone. It’s messy, it’s smelly, it’s uncomfortable, and they don’t really know what’s down there anyway.  

Ah, but there are a few fecund oases in the barren wasteland. Those oases are inhabited by certain religious tribes such as the Mennonites, the Mormons, the Muslims and the Orthodox Jews. (We could do a lot worse than those four.) The fertility rate among those tribes is double to triple the average in the world.

Not very long ago, the Catholics were one of those tribes. Not anymore. The fertility rate in Catholic Italy is among the lowest in Europe. The strictures on contraception still promulgated by the Vatican are now honored mainly in their breach. When it comes to contraception, most Catholic endeavor to prove the truism “We’re all sinners.”

So, what’s the reason for the fruitfulness of the Mennonites, Mormons, Muslims and Orthodox Jews?

It’s their devotion to family life. With that devotion to family life comes a devotion to families, and with that devotion to families comes a devotion to having one. That means children.

I’m guessing that this devotion to family life makes the members of these groups happier than the rest of us, even though that happiness is sometimes not outwardly visible. Whether that happiness rooted in a shared devotion to family life will enable these disparate religions to get along with one another, after the rest of us are gone, is another question.

But happy or not, these groups are the ones that will survive. The meek don’t inherit the earth; children do. The future belongs to those who show up.