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Saturday, July 27, 2013

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

14 comments:

  1. Sad but true, I'm just not as optimistic as you are.

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    1. I'm looking for a bright side. Few situations are either all one thing.

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  2. Certainly a new path is in order! Let's hope more effective than the present one!

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    1. That's what I'm hoping and working towards.

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  3. It's all sounding very pessimistic from the other side of the world but I hear and see what's happening in your part of the world and it is like a virus that will affect us all. It may be worse in your part of the world first.
    We too have politicians who don't give a damn about anyone but themselves and their well heeled friends. None of the policy decisions they make actually affect them and their arrogance is something you cannot believe. Or maybe you can.
    Anyway you're right, it is all turning to shite and quickly too.
    The fuse of action has been lit, especially by the Occupy movement. Things are smouldering around the world. We live in interesting times...

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    1. In the US the masses are still bought off with bread and circuses. Fewer of us are entertained.

      The whole world's connected now. Sometimes that's nice, like when you and I get to exchange comments. The downside is that when a big country has problems, we all have problems.

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  4. I have thought about things a lot and it seems that the root of the whole mess is that human population is reaching a point were systems won't support it. Systems such as government run programs, social, religion, and the big one is nature. If people knew how food was being grown now, for instance I haven't seen a plow or disc used for 10 years, it is all done with man made chemicals and genetically engineered seed. Talk about betting the farm!

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    1. There are systems that can support the population, but they aren't very profitable for big business. Governments and religions don't want to give up control of the people and rather have them miserable than free.

      Big industrial farms don't even smell like farms. The soil is dead.

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  5. I don't believe anyone should get something for nothing, they should be made to work for it. Bring back the CCC, they did a lot to beautify this country.

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    1. I was in the YCC as teenager. Wonder what happened to that program?

      It's actually a huge amount of work to be on public assistance. Lot's of meetings and paperwork. Dealing with government drones on an almost daily basis. It's a skill set. It's easier to work at a good job, but what happened to those?

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  6. What keeps it interesting is the element of surprise. Things we could never imagined will happen. Spin the wheel.

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    1. The unknown factors could easily upset the apple cart.

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  7. Whatever happens in the States will happen pretty quickly over here too. The politicians are the same all over the world, greedy being the kinder term I'll use. It will be hard to survive it at all here, it's such a small overpopulated place, nowhere to go to hide.

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    1. Perhaps a boat is just the ticket . . .

      That's what happens when a country has an empire to feed itself. The US is bigger, but made the same mistakes.

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