system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Japan's population decline is not that big of a deal for the average person

Now first of all, I mention Japan specifically for two reasons: 1) it is always at the forefront of these discussions whenever population issues are talked about, and 2) I actually plan on living there, at least for a while, so it's quite relevant to me.  I realize that other countries also have demographic issues like Japan which this could also be applied to, but for sake of convenience and relevance to me personally, I'd like to stick with Japan.

So, I'm aware of most of the predicted consequences, typically things like an overburdened social security system and an aging, retired population without pensions and/or support for government funded programs such as healthcare.  What I don't see happening is the idea that Japan as a whole will become a bad country to live in for the average person, because I don't see how a reduction in population in tandem with a declining economy can result in the average person losing access to employment or infrastructure, at least in any worse case than they have now.

Since developed economies, and especially that of Japan, are heading towards automation anyway, it would seem that having a reduced human workforce would actually lessen the burden on the system to provide jobs and incomes for people.  Also, large families, houses, things like that are typically the highest financial burdens a family could face, and yet as we see, fewer and fewer people in Japan are even having any kids.

So, in the event of an economic downturn and/or a loss of jobs, I can't see how the average single man or woman, or, the average couple with no kids would be significantly impacted.  People often talk about the middle class disappearing, but, in this case it's literally disappearing, and if people aren't there to suffer the effects of a reduced workforce or higher costs, then how can there be a net negative for the average person's standard of living?

Essentially what it will take for someone to change my view is to please just illustrate some specific examples of aspects of life that will make Japan a bad or worse place to live than it is now.  Because right now Japan is far from perfect, but it has good infrastructure, a low crime rate, fairly affordable costs of living, and decent employment prospects.  Which of these would be reduced significantly by the population decline, and by how much?
gpt
For people in large cities, especially Tokyo, there will not be much difference, but the farther you get from cities, the more population decline will impact communities. Trains and buses can’t run indefinitely with almost no riders. Schools and hospitals will close. Restaurants and other businesses can’t stay open. People who can live without any services may find this to their liking, but most people want access to some of these things.