Elon Musk with his son in his arms at a right-wing rally in Italy. He was talking about crude oil. And demography

The Italian Brothers party, to which Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni belongs, organized a right-wing political rally last weekend. Atreju, as this event is called (after one of the characters of “The Neverending Story”), has been taking place since 1998, and Meloni was one of the co-creators of this project. On Saturday, Elon Musk came to the rally as an honorary guest, arousing great interest. He was taking photos there with one of his youngest sons in his arms.

Elon Musk in Italy talked about climate and oil

We will talk about children in a moment, first about words that may arouse some surprise. The founder of Tesla, a company that produces electric cars and a supporter of the energy transformation, commented on fossil fuels. “We should not demonize oil and gas in the medium term,” Musk said.

A moment earlier he said that “the alarm about climate change is exaggerated in the short term” and in his opinion this may make people lose faith in the future. However, he did not show himself as a complete opponent of the fight against climate change (which would be very strange, considering his investments and declarations), he called himself an ecologist, stating at the same time that reducing carbon dioxide emissions is important to protect our planet – he reports

“Have children!” Demography under the microscope

Musk was also asked whether his companies would invest in Italy. He responded by referring to the issue of demography, which he has raised several times in recent years in the context of this country. – I think Italy is a great place to invest, but I want to emphasize that I am worried about the low birth rate. Who will work in this country if the labor force declines? – said the billionaire, who has 11 children himself, and was accompanied on the “wall” by his son, X Æ A-12. He added that immigration cannot be the solution to the problem. – My advice to all government leaders and citizens is: make sure you have children to create a new generation – he said, adding: “otherwise the culture of Italy, Japan and France will disappear” (we quote here from the American “Business Insider”) .

According to the Italian statistical office, everything indicates that this year the number of births will be record low. The birth rate (i.e. the number of children statistically per one woman) for 2023, according to the forecast from the end of October, may drop to 1.22 to 1.24. Between January and June, 3,500 fewer children were born than a year earlier. And the whole of 2022 was not optimistic. 393,000 were born children, by 1.7 percent less than a year earlier, it was the 14th year of such a decline in a row and the lowest rate since the beginning of united Italy (i.e. since 1861).

During the talks, topics that were more relevant to a businessman operating in new technologies also appeared. “Elon Musk’s participation in Atrej was also an opportunity for a joint dialogue on the benefits and threats related to artificial intelligence and new prospects related to Starlink, the SpaceX satellite system,” wrote the Italian Prime Minister on X, publishing a photo with the entrepreneur.