Delete comment from: Captain Capitalism
One false premise: that our socio-economic structures are not going to change. Just a bit earlier, you mentioned how things are different than they were in the 40s and 50s. Obviously change is possible. The question is: Will the trends we've seen over the last few generations continue on their same course, or if not, what are the most likely scenarios for change?
Note that change rarely happens according to plan. The idea that some concerted, conscious effort will bring us back to a sane system is, well, let's just say it would be unprecedented. What is a lot more likely is the strain between social systems and things like REALITY and BUDGETS grows too large to continue. One will end up being subordinate to the other.
We see a lot of naive kids out "following their dreams" without running the numbers, or trusting in advice about college, homeownership, and such that may have been sound advice in previous generations but is meaningless now that the underlying factors for those decisions have changed so much.
Others, realizing Elvis has left the building, are going to go find new ways of doing things. So far, the people who do are going at it as individuals, and it's still far from the mainstream. Eventually, more people are going to realize the ostrich strategy isn't working. What's currently a community of outcasts is going to be a lot bigger, and probably before not to long. What that transformation will look like, I can't say. Too many factors, not enough data.
I would be interested in taking a look at similar situations throughout history. Mainstream Western institutions are going through a crisis of legitimacy. It's not the first time it's happened. I'm reminded of the senile aristocrats of France who led the mobs into the French revolution. That didn't end well for anyone. From what I know of French history, the French culture before the Terror was a whole lot less barbaric and desperate than ours is now.
It's yet to be seen if enough people get into their cultural and economic lifeboats before the ship goes down.
What those lifeboats will be is anyone's guess. Again, too many factors, not enough data. But imagining that our decrepit institutions won't topple over seems unfounded, and it's good to remember that desperate people rarely do logical, wise things.
Jun 3, 2015, 10:16:28 PM