The world is running out of soldiers to fight our wars

In an ageing population, the challenge is not simply adjusting to the needs of seniors but catering to diversifying needs everywhere so that people don’t have to plan their lives around scarce facilities. In Tokyo for work, I am struck by how every public bathroom I have been to has both changing stations for parents with infants and handlebars for seniors with mobility challenges. 

The news is core to uncovering these slow-burn trends and their tail effects and helping people understand the phenomenon. But this isn’t easy. Much has been said about the existential challenges to newsrooms surrounding technological disruption, coupled with a post-pandemic trend of news avoidance. But less talked about is the test of our ability to cover the big, complex and multifaceted challenges of our time that happen over many lifetimes, like demographic changes. 

Birth rates have been covered in an earlier newsletter edition of The Bottom Line where much of the story has been touched on – including the economic and social aspects of having a smaller workforce. You should read that.

But an ageing population coupled with fewer babies isn’t just the occasional business story about the growing eldercare economy. It’s not an issue that can be “delegated” to the correspondent covering society either. 

Demographic changes have seismic implications. It can’t be reduced to one factor or drilled down to a single number like total fertility rate. It’s a horizontal issue that requires everyone in newsrooms to have the necessary literacy to bring out the impacts in every beat so that readers understand the scale of the issue facing us yet remain engaged and empowered to do something about it.

This is the imperative behind my recent column “In a troubled world, militaries are running out of people to fight wars”. I wanted to shed light on how the pursuit of advanced technology including automation and artificial intelligence in warfare to augment scarce manpower will reshape the battlefield and make wars deadlier. 

Wars depend on a political will to win them. So what happens when people in a country with a one-child policy for so long lose their stomachs when body bags of only sons begin appearing? Is maximising casualty a legitimate war objective for the other side in deterring war or ceasing hostilities if conflict breaks out?

The effects go beyond the social and seep into the geopolitical. China’s population declined for a second straight year in 2023. It’s also no longer the world’s most populous country, ceding that title to India. This could have huge global implications. 

As we do our best to cover the most important stories of our time, here are my picks of the week to get yours started.

Cheers,

Suling Lin, Senior columnist

Sayonara to the Japanese salaryman 

By Walter SIM 沈茂贤 (ウォルター・シム)

The ranks of the iconic corporate warrior are thinning as society and the economy evolve. 

On board the new sleeper train from Beijing to Hong Kong

By Cheng Wei Aw and Magdalene Fung

With the new sleeper service, travel time between the two cities has also been almost halved.

No place for old white men: Trump’s running mate could decide the US election and more 

By Bhagyashree Garekar

Trump’s vice-president pick must check a diversity box; that would bode well for the Republican Party’s future. 

Sometimes it is okay not to ask the boss for permission 

By Arnoud De Meyer

We need people who dare to take calculated risks, but those at the top need to have their backs too. 

‘It’s like a variety show’: Chinese media mocks Biden-Trump debate

By Dawn Wei Tan

Short videos have appeared on popular social media platforms such as Douyin, WeChat and Xiaohongshu, playing up the two men’s gaffes, bickering and physical attributes.