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County population actually shrunk during the 1960 ’ s. Services contribute nearly one-fourth of total personal income in Humboldt county . The reason , I learned , has to do with poaching , an activity that , by devastating sturgeon populations , shrank Russia 's legal sturgeon harvest from 10,000 tons in 1992 to 500 tons last year . Today , again , a rising population confronts shrinking resources . It ca n't collect taxes , it ca n't field even a second-rate military , ca n't put down a minor-league insurrection within its own borders , ca n't protect its borders , ca n't halt the wholesale looting of the nation 's assets by mafiosi from within and without the government , ca n't pay pensions , fund hospitals , rein in autocratic provincial governors , prevent the population from shrinking by 1 % each year , or do anything to resist the inevitable takeover by China of the Russian Far East . They are coming to a period where welfare costs are certain to sky-rocket as the older population ages and the younger population dramatically shrinks .