The end of surety

Through much of history people knew what to expect from life. Most were born into their condition, and stayed there. Peasants knew what was expected of them and knew what life was all about. It might have sucked, but it didn't have a lot of surprises. There may have been better conditions for the upper classes, but they too had a limited set of options.

There are times when I wonder if the American Dream wasn't much better. Work hard, obey the law, be patriotic, vote, and life would get better. Maybe that even used to work for a lot of people. That's fine, but maybe the whole life path known as the American Dream was just another box. There was more opportunity, but there were some serious expectations that could only be ignored at great personal risk.

Never question if you even wanted what was promised: more money, bigger house, nicer car and maybe even a trophy wife. Never question who benefited from a large mass of worker bees sticking to the rules. How many of that tiny fraction at the top who actually run things, played by those rules? Few to none is my guess. That was for the people who didn't know how things really worked.

We are coming to a time when the old models of living are breaking down. The whole work hard and get rewarded model is falling apart, but so are other models. The middle class might be changing, but so's life for the poor and well off minion class too. The poor are finding their tenuous grip on life is starting to slip. The things that held it together are no longer working, be it welfare, low income housing, fuel assistance, health care, unemployment insurance, food stamps, or whatever. The well off are catching on that the super rich are playing a different game and they'll never be allowed to even know the rules. A million doesn't buy what it once did either.

It's going to be rough, but it's also going to be immensely interesting. The old rules are breaking down. Chaos plagues all systems. Entropy, entropy all winds down. Except it doesn't. Nothing stimulates evolution like stressing a system. The critters on the margins of things, insignificant in the old order, find their oddities are perfect for the new conditions.

I just hope it's not ideal for cockroaches, either insectoid or human.

Odds are it won't. Humans have a long history of actually being pretty decent at times. If we are clever, we'll have a new paradigm where we compete for status by seeing who can be the most enlightened. Boy that sounds like a set up for a joke. (none are as humble as I) But still, if there are systems that appeal to our baser natures like greed, there are also systems that reward generosity. We saw were greed got us. Let's try something else.

When nothing is sure or certain anymore, it's a time of turmoil, but also opportunity. If the old stuff doesn't work like it used to, throw it out and try something new. It might fail, but the old ways are failing too. In fact, the old ways are failing for sure.


-Sixbears