7.11.2006
Where Have All the Babies Gone?
Here's a bloody amazing essay on Canadian exceptionalism, written by one of my old M.A. colleagues, the incomparable Prince Edward polymath Randy McDonald. Randy offers a stunning analysis of the interplay between history, myth, demography, and politics in the formation of Canadian fertility rates. Though my summary is probably sheer butchery, the essay argues that the relatively secular climate of Canadian identity cannnot fully account for its low fertility rates, and then goes on to ask, "Might not the final piece of the puzzle lie in the comparative speed of Canada's transition from tradition-bound conservatism to a more pragmatic openness?" Prepare to punish your brains suckaz.
