On the Amish and demographics

 One topic that has interested me has been how traditional religious groups have avoided the collapse in birthrates in secular societies. From this Unherd piece- Why utopias always fail- we hear of the Amish:

The Amish arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1730s to create their own heaven on earth. In 1900, there were around 5,000 Amish; and yet despite holding themselves radically apart from mainstream America, famously by rejecting most modern technology, the sect has around 350,000 members in North America today. And that figure is only set grow: the Old Order Amish double their numbers every 20 years.

and 

The Amish are ideologically committed. They are not atomised, individual actors responding to civilisational malaise like the hippies. They are connected families, connected through marriage, buying connected land and lots of it.

Having a pro-growth and family ideology leads to an expansive, optimistic society. Who'd thought it?

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