Demographic problems against democracy

In 2011, the Europeans need to read the novel by Jose Saramago (José Saramago) "As Intermitências da Morte" («Irregularities in death"). James Wood (James Wood) published in the magazine "New Yorker" an informative review of this book. At a time when the midnight heralds the advent of the year in some country with a population of approximately 10 million, announces the death of a truce: it is dismissive, and residents are now beginning to understand what it means to live forever. Initially, the inhabitants of this unnamed country covered by the euphoria. But soon their world returned to various "inconveniences" - metaphysical, political, and pragmatic. The Catholic Church acknowledges that "there is no resurrection without death, but without the idea of resurrection is not religion." For insurance companies, life without death, too, means a complete collapse. Before the state gets an insoluble problem - always pay pensions. Families with elderly and decrepit relatives realize that only death will save them from the endless care. Country in which no one dies inevitably becomes a ruthless Malthusian dystopia. Gradually formed a mafia character plot: to kidnap the old and sick people and transport them to neighboring countries, that they were dying. The Prime Minister said the monarch in warning: "If we do not die, we lose our future." In my view, the novel Saramago - an excellent introduction to the "age of aging" - this applies especially to Europe, where in 2011 could be a turning point, when demographic ideas will ultimately prevail over democratic. The democratic way of thinking, which prevailed over the past two decades, has inspired us with hope that we can change the world. The demographic way of thinking scares us the idea that in future the world will change us.

See for detail http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/10/27/081027crbo_books_wood

В 2011 г. европейцам нужно читать  роман Жозе Сарамаго (José Saramago) “As Intermitências da Morte” («Перебои в смерти»).
Страна, в которой никто не умирает, неизбежно становится безжалостной мальтузианской антиутопией. Исподволь формируется мафиозного характера заговор: похищать старых и больных людей и перевозить их в соседние страны, чтобы они там умирали. Премьер-министр предостерегающе говорит монарху: «Если мы не начнем умирать, то лишимся будущего».
На мой взгляд, роман Сарамаго – отличное введение в «эпоху старения» – особенно это относится к Европе, где 2011 г. может стать поворотным моментом, когда демографические идеи одержат верх над демократическими. Демократический образ мыслей, который господствовал на протяжении двух последних десятилетий, вдохновлял нас надеждой на то, что мы можем изменить мир. Демографический образ мыслей пугает нас идеей, что в перспективе мир изменит нас.