Jim Penman’s explosive theory on why society is turning away from family - declining birth rate

Australia's most outspoken entrepreneur and the founder of Jim's Group, Jim Penman, sees the global fertility collapse as part of a change that threatens our survival as a society.
 

"Governments around the world are trying to prop up births with baby bonuses and the like, but they are having no effect. In not one country have they come close to restoring break-even fertility, which is an average of 2.1 children per woman," Penman said.
 

With the official release of his provocative new book Birth-rate Crisis, Penman is arguing that governments around the world have misunderstood the reason for the decline.
 

"They think it's a financial problem, but it's not. It's the result of a profound change in character that makes people less interested in family and children than in the past," he said.
 

Even more radically, he identifies the basis of the change.
 

"It is caused by dopamine surges from our prosperous and individualistic society, which are making our brains less sensitive to dopamine. This makes families and children less attractive, because they fail to produce the intense surges our modern brains require. This is also causing other problems, including rising levels of mental illness," he explained.
 

He sees this as exactly the same mechanism as that behind drug addiction, or other addictions such as to porn or gambling.
 

"Scientists have a good understanding of how addiction works. They just don't apply it to the wider society," he said.
 

This approach suggests two different solutions to the problem.
 

"The first is to radically reduce dopamine surges, such as by limiting food and cutting ourselves off from influences such as social media. The other is to develop a medical treatment that has the same effect. Some of the weight loss drugs such as Semaglutide are promising in this regard. They seem to lessen interest in sources of dopamine surges such as drugs and smoking," Penman said.
 

"Another promising approach is to use CRISPR technology to directly target the relevant sections of the brain. Australian scientists are world leaders in this area."

To bring this to reality, Penman is funding a multi-million dollars a year research project, based on La Trobe University in Melbourne and in conjunction with labs in China. He hopes the book will result in further funding for the research.
 

His immediate aim is to develop effective treatments for depression, anxiety, drug addiction and conditions such as ADHD. However, because they will also help people to focus better and develop self-discipline, they are likely to be taken up by the wider society.
 

"The birth rate crisis can be solved, and with that, we can reduce a whole lot of social ills," Penman added.
 

About Jim's Group
 

Jim's Group was founded by Jim Penman in 1989 and now has some 5,700 franchisees in more than 50 divisions. It is the largest franchise chain in the Southern Hemisphere.
 

A digital clone of Jim can be found at this site or at jimpenman.com.au, which is able to answer questions about the research project and Jim's Group. More information about Jim's Group can be found at: https://jims.net