More Evidence of the Death Society

Betsy passes this along, more evidence that for many people, the joys that come with life, and the desire to create and nurture it, are diminishing here in the U.S., just as they are in Europe:

The New York Times looks at the trend in cities like Seattle and Portland which are fast becoming childless cities.

After a drop of 10,000 students in the last decade, Portland officials called in March for the closing of six schools, prompting cries of grief from three generations of adults who say that nothing takes the heart out of a neighborhood like a shuttered school.

The pool of school-age children is shrinking so fast that Portland will have to close the equivalent of three or four elementary schools a year over the next decade, according to school district projections.