>>20133799Sorry to hear about your illness, Finn bro. I hope you feel better soon, and I am glad you are close to your parents. I also am, and I think multigenerational families are admirable. Here in the States, many Asian families live with 3-4 generations under one roof and pool their resources. The young adults go to college or learn a trade, the parents work, the grandparents watch the little kids. Asian families that function this way end up quite successful in life and they earn it. I think we White Americans are far too atomized, socially, though some White Americans do retain strong family bonds.
As to economic growth, I think energy is the master resource, since energy is necessary to make use of any resource, and therefore greater energy use per capita is necessary for a higher standard of living. This is a necessary condition, however, not a sufficient one, since there is more to economic growth than just using more energy. There have to be useful things to use that energy for. But policies of what we might call "energy austerity," being implemented in Europe and now in North America, aren't helping the situation.
Europe should be developing that giant coal bed under the North Sea or, since Russia is no longer trusted to supply Europe with energy (I'm not getting into whether that situation is right or wrong, just that now it's a fact), then Europe should be importing lots of American energy at a fair price. Either of these options would help Europe grow again economically, but of course the White fertility rate also is a major issue that needs solving. Yet if "energy austerity" weren't occurring, leading to worse economic conditions, then many people might feel comfortable about having kids or having more kids.
I lived much of my life in Colorado and we'd get snowstorms into May, with maybe half a foot (about 15 cm) of snow accumulation on the ground. Colorado has always had quite unpredictable weather, however, because of the Rocky Mountains.
