If all basic needs were met (food, shelter, and medical), could socialism work (without the need for wars or famine to reduce the population)?
I mean, when people have education and free access to birth control birth rates go down without infringements on bodily autonomy.
Is your definition of socialism basic needs met or something else?
The Nordic countries gets close to the food, shelter, medical being met. Homelessness (sleeping in public) was surveyed at 0.04% according to first Google result (Sweden 2023). Healthcare is not free but very cheap.
Anyway if that qualifies then yes, birthrate is less than replacement level.
One of the social factors that most limits procreation is the education of women. If advanced education is available and encouraged, the age a woman has their first child is pushed back. As fertile years are limited for women, this reduces their potential numbers of children. On top of that, educated women often seek careers which often further reduces their active reproductive years. This is why developed countries usually have much lower birthrates than underdeveloped countries.
Yes. Birth rates in developed countries naturally drop without government intervention.
That being said, socialism is more than just basic needs being met - it’s a question of who owns what laborers produce. Under socialism, the idea is that the workers themselves own what they produce (or the fruits of their labor, more generally), as opposed to shareholders or firm owners.
