TLDR; They're Turning The Fricking Frogs Gay, The Book.

Count Down by Shanna Swan is a book based on research positing that the increase in feminine men, masculine women, miscarriage, decreased fertility in both men and women, increased incidence of babies born intersex, decreased fecundity in animals, and homosexual behaviour in animals (including homo sapiens!), all has a common cause - Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), found in common household products, food products - especially from hormones fed to livestock and fertilisers/pesticides, the water supply, petrochemicals, plastics, and flame retardants in furniture.

With chapter titles like Where Have All the Good Sperm Gone? I was sure to like it.

The author is concerned with declining fertility in all populations around the world, and the effects of endocrine disruptors on female and male health. After all, the endocrine system regulates more than just reproductive health - it also has an impact on longevity and various chronic ailments. The worst part was, the declining fertility shows no signs of stopping or slowing down. If it continues, people will no longer be able to have babies naturally.

I'll go through the chapters of interest and provide quotes.

Chapter 1, Reproductive Shock. pg 14: "The average twenty-something woman today is less fertile than her grandmother was at thirty-five"

Chapter 2, The Diminished Male. pg 27, "testosterone levels have been declining - by 1 percent per year since 1982".

Chapter 3, It Takes Two To Tango. pg 48, "the risk of miscarriage increased by 1 percent per year" -- that's by year, not by woman's age. (It also increases by age).

Chapter 4, Gender Fluidity. The social changes we all see - the LGBTQ+ social changes specifically - have an environmental cause, which is observable and measurable in animal studies. The author claims that these gender-blurring social changes are "not a negative thing" but I can't take her at face value - I understand what a backlash such a chapter would face from various lobby groups, and don't envy her the task of making it publishable. Pg 70, "exposure to dioxins and PCBs was associated with more feminine behaviour in boys, whereas in girls, exposure to these chemicals was associated with less feminine play behaviour". And many more such quotes. A lot of mentions of the Anogenital Distance, which apparently predicts your gender role conformity. This is the chapter that deals with the chemical/biological basis for the rise in LGBTQ+ behaviours.

Chapter 7. Silent, Ubiquitous Threats. Pg 112 - EDCs "have been linked to numerous adverse health effects in almost all biological systems, not just the reproductive system but also the immunological, neurological, metabolic, and cardiovascular systems." "Higher exposure to some hormone-influencing chemicals can decrease male-female differences".

The next few chapters are a slog and include study summaries strengthening the author's position. Very doom and gloom. We hit atrazine and frogs on pg 146. Cue the Alex Jones rant.

Chapter 12. Reducing the Chemical Footprint in your Home. To avoid exposure to EDCs, the author recommends culling a lot of things! In short - The Silent Spring Institute offers an app called Detox Me.

Relevance to RPW?

Society has changed rapidly in the last century, and there may be more to it than just industrialisation and Marxist ideology. There is a chemical battleground as well. It's as if masculinity, femininity and happy families are under attack from all sides!

It seems, if we want to be more feminine, and if we want the next generation to have clear gender roles, or we want a next generation of any kind - we have to limit/eliminate exposure to environmental EDCs. Which includes pretty much anything that didn't exist 200 years ago.

If you do your math you'll see that a 1% increase in miscarriages per year will lead to no live births after a century. Now, maybe it's not that bad, maybe it'll plateau at some point, but the writing on the wall is clear.

Have kids sooner rather than later if you want them, because the environment is against you.