This, of course, raises the broader question of whether declining birthrates, in Russia and elsewhere, imply a crisis of the liberal idea of freedom, with its focus on individual rights?
Clearly, liberalism may be a contributing factor, if and where it is primitively understood to entail for the individual no countervailing obligations before society. Clearly, the belief that liberalism is at fault for declining birth rates and dysfunctional families has gained currency in the West, which now produces popular books like Pat Buchanan's The Death of the West.
But I think the crisis is deeper, reflecting a lack of awareness of the paths and goals of human development -- an ignorance that cannot be reduced to Western-style democracy or liberal ideas. For Russia, the issue is simple because the crisis -- which has led to more homeless children than after either the Civil War or World War II -- is so stark.
"Preservation of the people" requires nothing less than that our men take care of themselves so that they can take proper care of our children.
Sergei Kapitsa is a professor at the Institute of Physics in Moscow.
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