Beginning of the end?

Two thirds of the world area is facing a population decline. Demographers, policy makers, economists, social researchers, political leaders, capitalists, are desperately trying to find a solution. Government incentives worth billions have failed to create the required impact on FR (henceforth in the article FR means fertility rate). Owing to declining populations, a nation’s security, culture, ethnicity, languages, economy, functioning of the society, existence, everything faces an existential crisis.

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In Japan, the number of new births fell for an eighth consecutive year in 2023. The government’s Institute of Population and Social Security Research (IPSS), predicts that the population will fall 30% by 2070. Though Japan seems at the extreme end of this crisis, it isn’t the only country struggling with a lack of births, 23 developed countries from Spain to South Korea, could see their populations halve by the year 2100.

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In 2023, just 379,000 babies were born in Italy, down from the previous year’s record low of 393,000 — which was the fewest births since Italy’s unification in 1861. South Korea’s fertility rate – the world’s lowest – dropped yet again in 2023 to 0.72 from 0.78 in 2022, far from the replacement rate of 2.1. South Korea has spent over over $280 billion over the past 18 years to address its diminishing birth rate.

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Let’s get back to Japan, all the research so far points at the following factors for decline in population 

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• Rising cost of living

• Long working hours

• Lack of support for working mothers

• Gendered parenting roles, in which women are burdened with solo childcare and       household responsibilities.

• Rising number of women in the workforce who do not wish to leave jobs for raising children.

• Lack of enough childcare support in cities

• Limited living spaces in cities such as Tokyo.

• Rise in irregular unsteady jobs

• Decline in marriages.

Other reasons

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• Delayed marriages, causing women to experience fertility issues after a certain age.

• Growing pessimism among young people about the future

• Tendency for single people to live with their parents longer.

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Most of the factors mentioned above are also applicable for other countries.  (  Reasons specific to Japan are - long working hours, limited living spaces and tendency to live with parents )

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The Japan government has planned measures to address this, which would cost an estimated $22 billion per year. This includes a pledge to double childcare spending by the early 2030s and lift the income cap for child cash benefits, among other incentives that the government hopes will encourage young Japanese couples to have more children.

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Some experts say, Prime Minister Kishida’s plan to pour funds into childcare is mostly a continuation of previous—and largely unsuccessful policies. Previously, it was felt that Japan’s policies provided insufficient incentives when compared to actual costs of raising children.

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Need for a new perspective

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Whether the current spending plan of the Japanese government is sufficient or not, it is not very likely to see success. Why?

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It does not address many critical questions. The most important being, why are the marriage rates falling in Japan? Even if people do not want to have children, what has made them stay away from relationships? Rather in a country where there are deaths due to long working hours, people should be finding more reasons to come together to seek happiness.

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Most of the solutions being tried around the world are “outward looking” which can only think of providing economic incentives in some or the other form to increase fertility rates. The following unanswered questions and societal trends in Japan, point towards deeper problems in society that need urgent attention but with a different approach which provides a nuanced understanding of human behaviour. 

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For more details on these refer to appendix.

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• Decline in marriage rates.

• Rise in mental health issues: In 2021, in Age group: 10 – 35 suicide was the leading cause of death in both males and females. In Japan, an estimated 1.5 million working aged people, mostly men, are living in isolation, a phenomenon known as hikikomori. Hikikomori is a term used to describe people who have withdrawn from society, often for a period of six months or longer

• Weird sexual behaviour and sexual abuse of women: Japan is also home to JK cafes, where adult men pay to hang out with underage girls. Until 2014, possession of child pornography was not illegal. Women have been enduring groping in public transport for decades, the women face a systemic sexual abuse culture.

• Discrimination of women:  Japan is at 125th of 146 countries in the Global Gender Index. It was the only country to send a male delegate to the recent G7 delegation on gender equality and female empowerment.

• Rise in homelessness among teenage females

• Toxic work culture - Japan has a history of long working hours, also known as

• karoshi, which translates to "death from overwork ". The most common causes of death from karoshi are heart attacks and strokes due to stress and malnourishment or fasting. Mental stress from the workplace can also cause workers to commit suicide in a phenomenon known as karōjisatsu.

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Thus, taking a holistic look at Japan’s society, suggests that we need to have “inward looking” policies which target the wellbeing of the society. 

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Providing monetary incentives or simply enacting a list of laws can’t solve such kind of diverse deep-rooted problems in the society. Monetary incentives might raise fertility rates for people who are already married and contemplating a child (though that approach has also failed globally). For people who do not wish to get married, who do not wish to be a part of the society (hikikomori), who do not wish to live in the first place, no amount of money, work life balance or child care services can convince them to start a family.

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The theory of three attributes or gunaas

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To have a nuanced understanding of human behaviour, I would like to introduce the concept of three attributes mentioned in the Chapter 14 and 18 of the ancient Hindu text – The Bhagvadgeeta. The theory of three attributes has been in use for several millennia in India to empower individuals mentally, physically, and spiritually. This is an attempt to use this knowledge for effective policy making.  To create policies - this concept is to be used along with the modern theories of economics, society, and human behaviour. The Japanese word 'naikan' means introspection or seeing oneself with the mind's eye – the theory of three Gunaas empowers people to do naikan - to understand their behaviour, its causes, motivations, and consequences.

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Note: Before we discuss what are these attributes and how they influence our behaviour it is important to note that - this article discusses these mainly with respect to fertility rates and other aspects of society such as economic progress, status of women, violence, mental health issues. It does not make a generalised statement about all the people in a country. This article in no way is an unjust criticism of any country or society.

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According to Hindu philosophy, the entire world is made of 5 elements and these 5 elements are governed by 3 fundamental attributes /qualities / tendencies / modes

that are believed to govern all of nature, including humans. Every human has all three attributes present, and they manifest in different forms. These attributes dictate every aspect of human behaviour, actions, thoughts. Each action can be classified as being done under the influence of one of the three modes. Thus, they play a significant role in shaping human psychology. Understanding how each attribute influences behaviour can provide insights into one’s personality, actions, and life choices.

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These three qualities are -

Sattva – Goodness and Peace

Rajas - Passion and Action

Tamas – Inertia and Ignorance

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Every aspect of our behaviour, actions, thoughts are determined by Sattva (S), Rajas (R) and Tamas (T) or the modes of action/passion, goodness, and inertia respectively.

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Sattva (S) – is responsible for creating contentment, peace. A person under its influence is more likely to be balanced in everything, he or she is not driven by pleasures alone. S – creates a serene mind, like that of a saint. [S for Serenity]. Yoga, meditation, spirituality are said to increase Sattva qualities. Such a person spreads love and compassion, loves to serve the society selflessly, does not discriminate against people. There is a spiritual aspect to this - Sattva enables people to see the one supreme God in every being, aiding in enlightenment of a human.

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Rajas (R) is responsible for initiating any action to fulfil a desire. It is fuelled by desires and pleasure-seeking behaviour. Thus R – is the one which makes a run in the race to achieve material desires. [For easy recalling – R for race]. In Sanskrit, Rajas means passion – a heart with a passion to get something beats faster, it races. Thus, when you think of R - think of a passionate individual who is working hard to achieve material desires. This mode gives humans the ability to differentiate - the ability to see different qualities in different people. 

Tamas (T) – is responsible for inertia. It is responsible to retard any activity / resist change. Its characteristics are to create ignorance, lethargy, inertia, confusion, and delusion. (T – for tenebrous, which means - dark, gloomy, or obscure). When thinking of T, you can imagine an individual who is too lazy to work, OR somebody who is delusional. T is not necessarily always bad; it also causes humans to sleep which is a necessary bodily function. Under certain conditions T also leads to certain mental health issues, since mental health issues are a form of delusion in the mind sometimes, which is a form of Tamas. 

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Note: When we say that a person is under the mode of ignorance or Tamas it does not mean that the said individual is completely ignorant, it simply means some aspects of his or her behaviour are being influenced by Tamas. If an individual cannot work hard due to laziness or lethargy we cannot easily come to a conclusion that the person is ignorant - because it might be possible that the individual is in a society like Japan where overworking is a serious problem. Or the person is feeling lethargic due to illness or some stress, or some other reasons.

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Remember - all three are present in every human being – all of them are necessary for a human to survive. 

Very few humans can be said to be highly under the influence of a single quality, most of us have Rajas being slightly more than others. Saints, enlightened ones, people with god-like qualities are said to have Sattva dominating; people who are exceptionally industrious and active have high amounts of Rajas; whereas Tamas is often observed in individuals who are significantly impaired by severe mental health issues such as those having suicidal thoughts, delirium.

There are combinations of these attributes which also create different behaviours. For example: R + T: that is mode of passion along with mode of ignorance causes disruptive behaviours seen in cruel personalities. Under extreme conditions, people such as Hitler or terrorists arise from such behaviours. Some people like Gurudev H.H Sri Sri Ravishankar ji who have high Sattva, are enlightened beings and also use that to direct their energies (Rajas) to carry out large scale humanitarian works.

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Since every aspect of human behaviour is defined only by 3 qualities, each of these manifests in a wide range of behaviours and actions and are defined by several sub-attributes. Each of these modes have different impacts on the human mind and body.

All people also have certain innate behaviours which can be classified under S, R , T. The balance between the gunaas can shift due to various factors including lifestyle, diet, activities, and even thoughts.

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For example: 

Excessive sleeping, procrastination, and excess eating can promote “T” tendencies leading to habit formation making the person more prone to such behaviours. Foods such as alcohol or other intoxicants, or overcooked, stale, or those food products that have minimal nutritional value, unhealthy, stale, stored for too long, or which create a state of lethargy or confusion are said to be Tamasic in nature. 

 It’s a self feeding loop - Tamasic activities make a person tamasic, and a person who has innate tamasic behaviour either by birth or due to habit formation will prefer tamasic activities and food !

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Food which has a strong flavour such as extremely sweet, salty, hot food are Rajasic in nature. They promote passion and desires and are also liked by people under the influence of this mode. Sattvic food is Freshly prepared food and gently spiced.

However , these tendencies in a human can be changed - yoga, meditation, spirituality, and the most important one - selfless service to others are said to promote the tendencies of Sattva - goodness while reducing the influence of Rajas and Tamas. This balance is crucial for psychological well-being, personal growth, and the pursuit of spiritual fulfilment.

One important thing to know about the gunaas is they are in constant flux, that is they are constantly rising and collapsing in an individual based on various times of the day, seasons, activities, what we eat, what we consume, how we think, our physical and mental constitution, and our environment. The dominant guna affects perception, too. For example, if sattva is high, you are likely to be more cheerful, positive, dynamic, and cantered in all situations. When Rajo-guna comes, more desires, selfishness, restlessness, and sadness arise in us. Whereas when tamas is high, you may experience a host of negative emotions, pessimism, or even depression.

Another example from day-to-day life:

A person starts the day feeling peaceful and maintains this inner calm at work, reflecting the Satva quality characterised by happiness and clarity. Rajas drives the person to work hard for desires, leading to restlessness and emotional extremes without Satva's balance. By night, Tamas takes over, associated with sleep and lethargy. Excessive Tamas might lead to issues such as procrastination or depression. Excessive R might also lead to issues such as anxiety, stress, causing mental and physical health issues. A balanced interaction of the three, is crucial for fulfilling life and well-being.

Impact of these attributes on society &

Fertility Rates

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Let’s dive deeper into the characteristics of each of these attributes to understand how they are affecting society and especially the reproductive behaviour in humans.

Let’s begin with Tamas – inertia. This is easiest to understand, and our area of interest which is severely affecting the current drop-in fertility rates across the globe.

Tamas

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Tamas literally means darkness.

The role of tamasic attributes is to provide inertia. The major sub-attributes of Tamas are – inertia, ignorance, laziness and delusion. It retards activity.  

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It represents lack of knowledge and wisdom, chaos, destruction, delusion and apathy. A tamasic state leads to negativity, inertia, and a lack of motivation or ethical standards, poor judgement, and an inclination towards harmful actions or inactions.

Actions performed under this mode are undertaken, disregarding consequences, without considering loss or injury to others or self.

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Individuals with a Tamasic disposition resist change, preferring stability even at the cost of progress or happiness.

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It deludes all living beings through negligence, laziness, and sleep. Doing their duty becomes burdensome to them and they neglect it, becoming more inclined to sloth and sleep. In this way, this attribute leads people deeper into the darkness of ignorance. It becomes totally oblivious of its goal in life, and the opportunity for progress that the human form provides.

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Tamas can cloud judgement and hinder self-awareness, leading to negative emotions like feeling low, fear, depression, and excessive or irrational anger. A Tamasic state often results in detachment from reality and delusion. Mental health issues, suicidal tendencies, extreme cruel behaviour, sexual abuse, are all extreme forms of Tamas. For a person under a heavy influence of T, the most difficult thing is to change oneself and one’s attitude / perception towards the world. Thus, a person experiencing extreme levels of anxiety, depression or mental health issues also finds it difficult to change his or her perspective toward life.

Society under the influence of Tamas

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In a society which is under the mode of ignorance - there is unchecked violence, crime, suicides, mental health issues. The purpose of this mode is to cause destruction, retardation in activities which lead to creation. Creative spirits of the society are killed, and the society moves towards a state of destruction and inactivity. 

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In the Japanese society, suicides, recluse men and women (hikikomori), sexual abuse, weird sexual behaviours – such as child abuse, discrimination of women, lack of long-term relationships are all indicators of T.

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All the three Gunaas, and especially Tamas, show a wide range of behaviours in different people and societies. Other examples of this attribute are - Gun violence in the USA, Islamic terrorism, violence and political instability in certain African countries and a recent surge in the mental health issues around sexuality and gender fluidity. [Accepting different genders and sexuality is a virtue – a mode of peace. However, if people are having issues with identifying themselves with a gender due to mental health issues, this shows a delusional mind, an impact of Tamas]

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How does it affect fertility rates across the globe?

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Since it promotes inertia, Tamas leads to lack of interest in ‘change’. Thus, males and females continue to remain in their stages of life without wanting to go through a change. They avoid - getting in a relationship, getting married, having children.

Inertia and ignorance ensure that people continue to find pleasure however diminishing it may be, in their current stage of life, resisting change. Though laziness and lethargy are also one of the sub-attributes, Tamas does not always mean ‘laziness’ – people who are working hard in their jobs, yet do not wish to marry, are also said to be under the influence of Tamas – they are resisting change. (But, how did a society, like Japan, get into the mode of Tamas - would be covered in the this section later)

Another characteristic of Tama is ignorance and fear - which also cause lower FR. For example, several parents are ‘afraid’ of being not able to provide care for children and they end up not having or having a single child even if they have enough resources. Or they are hesitant to reduce their avenues of spending and pleasure because of more children, because of which they prioritise single or no children.

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Does Tamas always mean less number of children per woman?

No. In countries such as Niger, Nigeria, FR is high. Rajas are needed to perform any action. Thus, high fertility in these countries is a result of High R supported by T– passion / activity + lack of proper knowledge. (will be discussed more later in the article).

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Lack of education, awareness, unstable society lead a society that resists change, or the people are unable to bring a change. For example, women in these regions are not empowered to take control of their lives to decide when to marry, when to have children and how many. In this case, fewer children or focusing on children’s education might help them come out of poverty, but the social conditions don’t allow them to.

Sattva

Role of Sattva

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To provide peace, contentment, purity, harmony, mental clarity, pure love, the ability to perceive things as they are and balance. A sattvic action is bound to bring you joy, health, and happiness.

The tendency to serve society and not discriminate against people on the basis of gender, class, race are also important aspects of Sattva.

Promotes wisdom, understanding, and intelligence.

Individuals influenced by Sattva are often calm, compassionate, and self-controlled, they show signs of being noble, spiritual, joyous, pure and not quick to lose their centeredness in life.  People with a predominance of Sattva are likely to be altruistic, ethical, and possess a strong sense of duty towards themselves and others. They are driven by a quest for truth and a sense of purpose that transcends personal gain. It represents the higher or spiritual potential.

When you are calm, peaceful and steady, you know sattva guna is high. Sattva guna is free of malice, anger, violence, or any of the negative attributes. An abundant source of sattva is nature. Thus adherence to the laws of nature is Sattva. Also, if you are living a life that is aligned with nature, sattva guna is likely to be high. It can also be increased by engaging in spirituality, meditation, yoga, serving the society selflessly, consuming the right foods – pure, fresh, vegetarian.  

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Kaizen - the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement or changing for better I believe is the embodiment of Sattva. To achieve any improvement, one has to be centred and calm. 

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How does Sattva influence society?

Society which promotes peace, contentment, nonviolence, justice, social welfare, harmony among different sections of community, and most importantly where people seek knowledge to achieve more peace and stability is under the influence of Satva.  

Absence of discrimination based on gender, class, race, colour is a sign of Satva. Movements such against apartheid are an example of a societal transformation due to Satva, the mode of goodness or peace.

How does Satva influence fertility rates and sexual behaviour ?

People under this mode would find contentment with sex at some point, would avoid illicit sexual behaviours, and would consider having children as a part of life - They are neither too passionate about these things nor would they completely avoid it.

Rajas

It is the quality of passion, activity, and motion. It is associated with desire, attachment, and restlessness. Rajasic energy drives action and change but can lead to agitation, conflict, and stress when out of balance. People under its influence are energetic and ambitious but can be overly driven by desire for worldly success and prone to anger and anxiety.

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As mentioned earlier, since this attribute is responsible for pleasure seeking activities – it also promotes selfishness. As a result, it also gives humans the tendency to differentiate amongst other humans based on their talents and qualities, and even on the basis of in-born attributes such as gender, class, community, race, ethnicity. For example – it is because of this attribute that we can hire someone at a position - by considering their talents or innate qualities – for our benefit, though this can lead to flawed thinking.

A mind under the influence of Rajas is influenced by biases.

How does Rajas influence mind and body?

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Rajas can lead to productivity and creativity, but can also result in restlessness, anger, and anxiety. Such a mind is often preoccupied with thoughts of attainment and loss, leading to a cycle of desire and dissatisfaction.

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How does Rajas influence society?

It leads to economic prosperity. USA and Japan both saw years of high growth during the 1960s, this is an example of the dominance of the mode of passion, where people worked hard to create wealth. During these years, the west and many other countries experienced a baby-boom. Which denotes low levels of Tamas - inertia in society. Countries were undergoing massive transformation, technological innovation, and economic growth.

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How are gunaas responsible for achieving technological innovation and transformation in society?

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To achieve innovation and transformation in society – a right mix of Satva and Rajas is required.

Satva – promotes seeking of knowledge and the peace, joy of the mind when combined with Rajas during work leads to creativity and innovation. If the mode of passion instead of being supported by mode of goodness (S), is supported by Tamas, it leads to instability in society – as witnessed in many African countries struggling with unstable governments and violence.

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Politically, many African countries are unstable and dealing with violence in the community is the action of which attribute?

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This is the impact of a society low on Satva, high on Tamas and Rajas. i.e. low on knowledge, awareness, wisdom; and high on passion fuelled by a delusional mind. That is why there is instability in the society – chaos and destruction. If things go well, and somehow Satva rises – because of positive social transformation, then there would be stability and peace. Else, if things continue as is, such a society will see a decline in population at some stage because of excessive instability and poverty. 

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Social Discrimination and the Three Gunaas

The ability to differentiate, at a spiritual level is a basic characteristic of Rajas – mode of passion. It gives humans the ability to see different qualities in different people, while Satva enables people to see the one supreme God in every being.

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However, at extreme levels – the differentiation takes the form discrimination, and further leads to violence. This is Tamas, it promotes a wrong understanding / perception of the world. This leads to extreme forms of discrimination or violence based on gender, religion, class, race, ethnicity. Systemic abuse of women, violence against minorities or people of colour, and the distorted thinking to ‘annihilate’ people of a different religion by using violent means are forms of Tamas.

In Hindu philosophy, the mode of peace & goodness is further said to influence the feeling of oneness among people, a highly Sattvic person has high humanitarian principles, a saint or a truly enlightened being sees the same supreme God in every being. Efforts to combat discrimination and promote equality can be seen as promoting a more Sattvic state of society, where wisdom, harmony, and inclusivity prevail.

Sattva is the reason why India – even though it did not see a high economic growth as Japan or USA, has been comfortable with women taking on various roles in the country. India has seen a female Prime Minister in the 1970s and is seeing the rise of women in every field of society. On the other hand, Japan is still struggling to give women the respect they deserve in society.

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Finally let’s understand, 

Why does Japan have low fertility rates ? Why is it that certain African countries which have not seen economic growth, but have a number of children per woman whereas Japan stares at an existential crisis ?

How did society change – how did the influence of Tamas increase in society, and why is it that countries such as Japan are at the extreme end of the low fertility trap, while others are not ? 

How did Japan transform from a state of Rajas to Tamas ? 

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How does the tendency of activity, passion and pleasure seeking transform to

lethargy, inertia and ignorance ? 

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To get the answer to these questions, we need to understand, why or how do individuals and societies transform from the mode of activity, passion and pleasure seeking to the mode of lethargy, inertia and ignorance.

Both societies and individuals when in the mode of Rajas show economic progress, and an inclination towards pleasure seeking behaviour.

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 The reason is - “ When Rajas is not controlled or not balanced by Sattva – it leads to Tamas.”

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When a person is high on the mode of passion – she/he undertakes action to experience pleasure, and when it is done in excess – any pleasure would have a negative impact on mind and body – leading to dullness or lethargy.

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This is also how a major section of Japanese society from being under the influence of economic activity, innovation, passion, pleasure seeking transformed to inertia, lethargy and ignorance.

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Example:

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You work hard at your office to create wealth and achieve success – however if you work without taking care of your body and mind (that is Sattva) it leads to stress or anxiety issues. Or even depression if you don’t achieve your results even after working hard. Also , not taking care of our physical health leads to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity. Which retard the activity (denoting the presence of Tamas)

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OR

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You enjoy simple pleasures of life such as eating, watching a movie or drinking alcohol, but all of these when done in excess lead to dullness or lethargy.

Addiction is also an example of how Rajas – the pleasure-seeking behaviour, when not controlled by Sattva – contentment and wisdom leads to Tamas – that is delusion and a state of inertia.

When someone indulges in deriving pleasure from a substance or a habit, more and more of it is required to achieve the desired happiness from it – leading to addiction. The phenomenon of deriving less pleasure from the same activity denotes a state of dullness of the nervous system that it needs more to get excited. This dullness is also Tamas. And is one of the biggest challenges being experienced by society today.

In the same fashion any society also goes through a similar transformation from R → T :

If not balanced by goodness, peace and contentment, a society which has high economic growth (pleasure seeking behaviour, activity , passion) transforms to a state of inertia and ignorance.

The transformation of each country depends on several factors such as the culture, history, the norms, attitudes, behaviour of people, economic conditions. Human beings are born with some  predominant aspects of behaviour – which shapes the society and culture. Historical events also shape aspects of behaviour in a society.

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Tamas manifests in majorly 3 ways in Japan –

Social pressure

Excessive fear, submission to authority, not expressing one’s   emotions freely – leading to issues such as death due to overworking, mental health issues, strict hierarchical structures. It seems that Japanese follow social harmony and social conformity out of fear rather than love.

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Status of women: As compared to several other developed economies Japan did not see an improvement in the status of women. Sexual abuse of women is also prevalent.

Mental health issues (discussed earlier)

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Such issues at this level of extremity were not experienced in other developed countries like the USA, as the Japanese society progressed economically and technologically, Rajas – passion and activity were not supported by Sattva – wisdom, contentment, taking care of mental – physical wellbeing, societal transformation, promoting equality. This led to continuation of Tamas tendencies, due to which Japan did not see a baby boom unlike its developed counterparts. Since these issues worsened with time, Japan contiued to see a decline in fertility rates.

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Solutions to reverse this trend

As mentioned earlier, for bringing in societal change, policy making needs to consider human behaviour based on both modern theories of psychology and social psychology as well as the concept of three gunaas. This along with the existing knowledge of economics can help countries to make robust policies.

International institutions, governments and experts have now acknowledged the role of understanding human behaviour while designing policies. World Bank is also using behaviourally informed research to make development policies more effective. A key insight from behavioural science is that behaviour and decision making are contextual, interventions should rely on careful diagnostics and involve an iterative process of testing and adoption.

After much observation and contemplation based on the current and past trends in population growth, socio-economic development, and applying theory of 3 gunaas, I have arrived at some principles of fertility rates and population growth and a broad framework to resolve the population crisis in countries such as Japan. These can be applied across any country which is struggling to increase its FR. 

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Principles of Fertility Rate (FR) and Population Growth

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​1.  For prolonged periods, if the fertility rate is too high or too low – both are signs of a   

      decaying society. In an ideal scenario, it needs to be maintained at “appropriate” 

      levels. 

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      In an ideal scenario, for a healthy society, the F.R should not be too high or too low

      for prolonged periods. If FR is maintained high above 2.1, the population steadily       

      rises creating problems if it is not met with economic development at the right pace,

      if it is below 2.1 that also creates economic and social problems that we are seeing

      today. Less people in the workforce, less people to pay taxes, but more dependants

      in the economy, also, less people to consume so there is less motivation for people

      to increase economic productivity. Thus both scenarios create hurdles for economic

      development and overall well being of a nation.

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2.  There must be clusters / sections in society that have high FRs. A nation or a region 

      should not go through an almost uniform declining or increasing FR across all the

      sections of population. When such things become a societal trend - that is a sign of 

      danger. There should be families and communities who can have many children and

      be able to support their care and development. If not, the government should create

      such clusters in society - however, care needs to be taken to ensure that the children 

      get education, nutrition, and healthcare, else it can lead to a poverty crisis and an 

      unstable society in extreme cases.​

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3.  Achieving an increase in fertility rate for economically developed countries that are 

      at the lower end of FR 

OR 

      Achieving a decrease in FRs for countries struggling with stability and poverty &

      having high FR, both will be a result of multiple factors that denote the overall well-

      being of the population. 

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4.  The number of children a woman should have should never be controlled by any

      legislation. It is against the principles of human nature. 

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      However, there should be a disincentive to have high FR for: i. Communities who tend

      to produce too many children with too little ability to provide care and nourishment

      to them ii. Communities which when present in large numbers could be a threat to

      the stability of the nation.  
 

The case of India:

India saw high FRs for a prolonged period of time causing population boom, also after independence for many decades India continued with a very low rate of economic growth. High population growth with low economic development is the cause for a lot of socio-economic problems such as high unemployment levels seen today.  

Further the sections of society who could not afford care and nourishment for their children had a high FR while the relatively wealthier sections did not. Due to which, today there are less taxpayers to support the government’s welfare initiatives causing difficulties for the present government to strike a balance between welfare and growth.

In some regions and sections of society – like the states in the south – the FRs declined almost uniformly across the population of the states, causing – imbalance in their proportion today. According to several estimates FR has decreased across all communities, however for Muslims it is still higher than Hindus, causing fears of a religious conflict in society. Ideally the FRs for Hindus and people in South Indian states should not have gone down so drastically and so uniformly, this is not good for the holistic development of the nation. 

Framework for policy making

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Based on this policy making should focus on the following broad pillars:

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• Women

• Community

• Creating resilient and happy minds

• Exemplifying citizens that having children can lead to joy in life. (It is surprising that in the entire discussion and research on increasing FRs there is no use proper use of concepts from social psychology, psychology, and  behavioural sciences)

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The policies formed out of these focus areas should - 

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1. Ensure women feel loved, cared, and protected in society.

2. Eliminate unnecessary fear which impacts the healthy development of mind. This will lead to a friendly society free from insecurity.

3. Resolve on individual mental health issues.

4. Promote physical health – procreation requires healthy abled bodied men and women.

5. Create a conducive and nurturing environment for women to develop a desire to become mothers.

6. Create high fertility zones in the country by targeting the right people who can be supported to achieve high levels of procreation. (Right people can be targeted based on gunaas, physical and mental health and ability to provide care for children). There can be geographical zones in the country, on the lines of special economic zones, where people are being taken care of to be able to procreate. Japan and many other such governments who are focussing only on increasing the FRs for all - are not likely to meet success. Instead they should also prioritise certain sections of society who can increase the overall Average FR of the nation.

7. Create a social trend to make procreation desirable for people. People need to look at couples who are happy with their children who will act as role models in society. 

8. Create a community around care-giving and child rearing. It takes a village to raise a child!

9. Create jobs in the caregiving sector.

10. Promote friendly social interactions within the community – to make a joyful society that embraces change.

11. Design economic and other incentives which promote the right attributes in people that are needed for raising fertility rates.

12. Promote micro changes in behaviour, thoughts, actions, habits of people to reduce Tamas, and increase Sattva.

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How to make successful policies ?

Devising policies and incentives aimed at a larger population to achieve behaviour change does not often work. People are irrational - simply offering them financial support will not change their attitudes towards having a family. 

Rather than only focussing on long term goals, and the entire population, the action points should also be aimed at seeing some success in a short time in a small section of the population.

Policy making needs to take inspiration from the approaches used in tech such as - 

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User Centred Design - an iterative design process in which designers focus on the users and their needs in each phase of the design process. It follows this loop of 5 steps: Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. 

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Continuous improvement in Agile is the ongoing process of identifying areas for improvement and making incremental changes to achieve better results.

Kaizen - the widely adopted Japanese business philosophy is something that resonates with me the most. Activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all the stakeholders in the process. 

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Conclusion

Japan, faces threats from both external and internal forces. Aggression from other countries is something that is inevitable and would require more manpower to fight, else it would accelerate the decline of Japan. Internally there are two worrying trends that I foresee - 

1. Transformation of Tamas to violent crimes: Statistics and people’s opinions show that crime is becoming more frequent and more violent. The collapse of the economy and mental health of people leads to violent crimes. It could also take the form of crimes that are aimed at masses - like stabbings or mass shootings. Further, the frustration amongst the youth population is likely to be vented out in some form of aggression towards the older population. 

2. Rise in religious conflicts: Every religion has some form of goodness (Sattva) in it. It's a human tendency to seek solace in some higher authority. As people become tired with life’s ups and downs, they seek refuge in God.  Japan with its rising mental health issues increasingly higher number of people are going to become religious or will be used by religious fanatics to convert them into their religion. This can be used by external forces to disturb the country or could cause religious conflicts in the society. Such conflicts in a declining population are dangerous.

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The solution to this is achieving Sattva - peace and harmony in society while using Naikan (Self reflection) and Kaizen (change for better).

The aim of this theory is to achieve high fertility rates while ensuring the well-being of people and creating a resilient society without altering the core of Japanese culture and ethnicity. Immigration is something that would be useful to achieve this - to create jobs in the caregiving economy. However, using immigration as the only solution to save Japan’s population decline is a danger to Japan’s ethnicity and race. Though I believe in the concept of equality and welcoming immigrants, but not at the cost of one’s own identity. As an Indian and as a believer of Hinduism, I believe that the beauty of the concept of 3 Gunaas is that it can be applied universally without having the need to change ones religious beliefs. 

The perspective of 3 gunaas empowers people to understand the mind. It has been tried and tested for several millennia and has helped people to achieve enlightenment. If not enlightenment, at least we can expect this to be useful to help people procreate !

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History has seen the collapse of many great civilisations because of natural calamities, wars, diseases, and migration, this is perhaps the first time the human race is seeing a weirdly terrifying phenomenon that civilisations are on the verge of collapse only because they are not procreating, despite having all the resources to do so. I hope the ancient Indian knowledge combined with the modern theories will help to avert this crisis and help society to find a better way of living.