Joel Kotkin in Singapore's Straits Times

Joel Kotkin Singapore's Straits Times

Why do Americans seem so hopeful about the future?

"Some of it is just happenstance but there are three factors: First, and probably most importantly, is immigration.

"In the American context, immigration has historically meant resettlement and integration into the country, as opposed to many other countries that regard immigration as something that they can turn on and off and that immigrants are there for particular tasks but not as future citizens... Immigrants are more likely to start families and very often come from Asia, Africa or Latin America, where family values are still very strong.

"So they reassert all that in America and that's why a majority of Americans now live in suburbs, where you can raise children.

"The second factor is space. Today, if you go to Mexico City or Mumbai, the poor and, even more so, the rich, won't have more than two children. I went to a monastery in South Korea and asked a monk there why Koreans are now facing depopulation. He said: 'You buy a 1,000 sq ft apartment when you're 40 - if you're lucky - which is an hour's train ride from Seoul every day. Who's got the energy or space to raise children?'

"The one thing about Americans is that around 60 per cent of them live in suburbs (where) they have a little backyard and privacy.

"The third factor is religion. About 60 per cent of Americans consider religion important, whereas only about 15 per cent of Japanese, French and Germans think so. Religious people almost by nature have more kids. Religion also teaches you to try and look beyond yourself (and) contribute to others. Whereas very secular societies say: 'I'm worried about saving the whales.'

"Americans are going through a period of pessimism now but many still say 'we really want to have more people and grow'. Whereas many other advanced societies have begun to roll into what the architect Austin Williams calls the poverty of ambition. "