In an agricultural society children are an asset. In an industrial or service based economy children are a sacrifice. This has always been my view on why birthrates are declining.
No matter what disease you are worried about, it seems like you need to follow the same advice in your day to day life: eat better, smoke less, drink less, exercise more, sleep appropriately.
The argument for public transportation is not dead wrong nor impeding progress. Expanding bus systems is something communities can do today in order to reduce their carbon footprint and their traffic levels.
Urban citizens have better access to low carbon transportation (Walking, Biking, Mass Transit).
Urban citizens are easier to reach in many last mile problems. Power lines can be shared by more users. Less network cable needs to be laid per user. Fewer miles of water pipes are required.
Apartments common in urban areas are more fuel efficient for heating/cooling than stand alone houses commonly seen in suburbs and rural areas.
I think BNW's mechanism of control is much more relevant than 1984's. In BNW the mechanism for control is the carrot, not the stick. In the west we are definitely using the carrot.
It's an observation that fits our theoretical models when dark matter is assumed.
It's indirect proof. The indirect proof is so overwhelming strong that any rational person will concluded with reasonable certainty that dark matter is real.
Directly detecting a dark matter particle will give us more data than "dark matter is real".
I don't draw such a strong lines between physical and virtual items.
Even in the case where you buy a song, you don't have limitless rights to it. It would be illegal, for example, to buy a CD and use a song from that CD in a television commercial. You don't own the song, you are purchasing the right to replay the song in some situations. DRM purchases and streaming services are remarkably similar deals.
I enjoy going to art museums and experiencing visual art, but I never experienced the inclination to purchase any of it. Music to me is a lot like that.
Europe has a long history of warfare that seemed to have halted around the NATO. I think the presence of a strong military alliance and the presence of peace have a high probability of being connected.
Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen talks a lot about how whitewashed, and classist history text books are, and why that is the case.
A summary of the book is that history textbooks have a tendency to avoid showing anything negative done by great American historical figures because they are held up as heroes for people in imitate. There is a narrative of constant progress that is told in the textbooks that does not match with actual history. History textbooks avoid talking about class struggles altogether, because if they did they would be labeled as Marxist. There is a general avoidance of discussing immoral foreign policy. The book backs up these claims by citing many popular textbooks and how they cover, or don't cover, historical events.
(The following summary of the book is my own understanding of the book's opinions and not necessarily my own. I haven't studied history enough to hold my own opinion.)
The bad actors could be brought to trial in a United States court, which is a level of deterrent not included in offshore manufacturing. If a US manufacturer was found selling tampered chips then the company itself could be held liable. This would create a general pressure to increase onsight security.
There are other benefits to us based manufacturing, but you only brought up the crime aspect so I will leave the other benefits unsaid.
Are there any specific plans for this that are not harmful to the child or society?