Quote:
Originally Posted by Knightbk
What people fail to realize at the end of the day is that Rich and Poor alike, we are all connected and nobody in the West wants things to collapse. Even the East doesn't want us to collapse, though they do want more power and influence.
The world WILL find a way to "save" our system. There are very smart people out there working on this and they will do it. In 10 or 15 years from now you will look back and say "ya it got bad but we survived".
This is what is coming:
Lower living standards. It wont be third world but it wont be like it has been. People will not have 14 Plasma TV's in the home, 3 Cell Phones for the kids, Eat out 14 times a week, drive Hummers to go to work, have 6000 sq ft homes with granite counter tops, etc, etc.
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Knightbk,
Welcome to the thread. On the one hand, I have to agree with the latter part of your post. The way we live our lives today is unsustainable. A dramatic sea change is needed to prevent environmental collapse, and promote internal and international peace.
But in a free society, the fine line between need and want can be razor thin. Capitalism and the acquistion of wealth have deep roots in the American and Western psyches (enter Max Weber's "The Spirit of Capitalism"), so much so that for most people alive today a permanent devolution from what has become normal will always be viewed as just that - something less than normal. Survival won't be good enough. Economic decline and poverty in this country have historically led to riots and rebellion. While a lack of Hummers and cell phones per household may indeed be what the world needs, a fundamental change in the psychology of America and the Western world will have to take place before the population accepts it as such. What did the people who lived through the Great Depression do the moment they could? Consume, consume, consume; hoard, hoard, hoard. In a sense, the Great Depression was not traumatic enough to change the "spirit of Capitalism," and neither will the crash of 2008.
As for those "smart" ones at the top, diligently working to preserve the sytem as is, their success will lead to 6000 square foot homes, and a Hummer and cell phone for every one of their family members. Capitalism is the ultimate pyramid scheme, is it not? (Double entendre intended.) If the bottom 90% have to experience a "decline in living standards," why not the top 10% too? Why should we consent to allowing that top 10% live off of the blood and sweat of our children's labor, and our children's children's labor? Capitalism has always been an inequitable system of production and exchange, and as discussed earlier in this thread, a system that cannot survive without expansion and exploitation of environmental and human resources. Those at the top will live lifestyles that are environmentally damaging and exploitative of the masses as long as we continue to consent.
I will have to agree with Zynox - a world where the present system survives is not a future I want my grandchildren to inherit. That is not to say I want them to inherit a world without laws or the Republican (as in the political philosophy, not the political party) spirit. But, preserving the current economic system is to preserve inequity and exploitation, and to invite environmental and cultural collapse. Are not the mechanisms of Capitalism dangerous to Democracy? If our politicians could be made subject to the rule of the people (as they were in the American Revolution, and arguably, still are), why not corporate America? I think the time has come for us to decide: are we men and women, or are we cogs? Are we markets, or are we communities? My fear is that the timeframe in which we make that descision for ourselves is incredibly short - and our indecision will allow others to make it for us.