Positive Trends

My previous post concerned the signs of possible systemic collapse. There are some serious problems and I gave a brief overview of a few that merited watching.

However, not all is doom and gloom. There are some positive trends.

Believe it or not, the world is actually a less violent place than it was in the past. That includes everything from major wars to crime. The statistics show a general trend to a more peaceful world. Of course, that could change at the push of a nuclear button, but we've already survived decades of nuclear stand off. So far, so good. There's also the possibility that in a more connected world, it's harder to look at other people as being less than human. That makes it harder to hate them.

We've never been connected to more information and people. That's huge. Really good ideas can easily sweep the world. Best practices can be shared and adopted everywhere. People can see something great and decide they want that for themselves. It's never been easier for people to self educate. No need to hole up in a library when the world's information is available on your phone.

Most people don't realize how quickly we are moving to sustainable energy. Solar and wind are no longer “alternative energy.” In many places they are the cheapest and best solution. Prices keep dropping.

Electric transportation is growing by leaps and bounds. We think of things like electric cars, but electric buses, trucks, and scooters will probably have a faster impact. Electric buses make sense as they travel fairly short routes in urban areas. Electric trucks will be short haul at first, but since their operating cost is lower than fossil fuels, there's incentive to expand as quickly as possible. Electric scooters will have a huge impact in places like India and China, where scooter transportation is common.

Food problems? The world has enough food for everyone. The problems mostly concern storage and transportation.

There will be financial upsets in the future. The business cycle has not be abolished. Fiat currencies have a finite lifespan. Some bad times appear to be unavoidable. A financial crisis just might be the stimulus for the development and implementation of a saner financial system. A system that concentrates most of the world's wealth to fewer and fewer people does not make sense. None of the current economic systems appear to have all the answers. Perhaps pulling the best elements from many systems could do the job.

So there you have it. I'm not totally a doomer. I've got hope . . . and preps, just in case.

-Sixbears