Does The U.S. Face A Future Of Babyloids, Parasite Singles And Manga Maniacs?

Is there a babyloid in your future?

Ross Douthat, writing in The New York Times, has an amazing article on demographic trends that are driving Japan into a potentially dystopic future. In part, a flat economy, the stigma of unwed motherhood, and the fear of immigration has already driven the populace to this reality:

Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world, and there were rashes of Internet-enabled group suicides in the last decade. Rental “relatives” are available for sparsely attended wedding parties; so-called “babyloids” — furry dolls that mimic infant sounds — are being developed for lonely seniors; and Japanese researchers are at the forefront of efforts to build robots that resemble human babies. The younger generation includes millions of so-called “parasite singles” who still live with (and off) their parents, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of the “hikikomori” — “young adults,” Eberstadt writes, “who shut themselves off almost entirely by retreating into a friendless life of video games, the Internet and manga (comics) in their parents’ home.”

Here is your link to the story, an update link, and commentary from Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.