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This War Marks the End of Cheap Resources
It’s time to bust some myths. Ones, like “we have all the natural resources we want” and “we live in an a world of abundance”. Or if something does become unavailable, then surely a replacement will come online and magically scale up to meet everyone’s needs. In the real world however — as we are about to experience it from a front row seat— a long decline of resources awaits; together with a slump in economic output. While some parts of the world might ‘enjoy’ growth in material wealth and energy use for a couple more years to come, the overall (global) trend of the decades ahead will most probably be marked by negative growth, or to put more simply: de-growth. Is it because of the war in Ukraine? Or sanctions? Only partially. In the grand scheme of things these acts of violence will be considered nothing more than a ‘coup de grâce’ — the final blow to the western economy.
Ofcourse, the statements made above presume accepting some basic facts. Most of these facts however — as you will see—would require a paradigm shift well beyond the scope of our current political reality. Thus, I do not expect any of them to burst into mainstream narrative anytime soon… But who knows, maybe Arthur Schopenhauer will prove to be right:
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
Read the following statements (1) in light of the quote above and guess in which stage our “collective consciousness” is in relation to them.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
What Choice Do We Have?
What Choice Do We Have?
As systemic solutions fall short, we must grasp the nettle of making our own arrangements in a time characterized by burgeoning demands and diminishing resources, capital and security.
The idea that our large-scale problems could be fixed with systemic reforms is enticing: replace the thousands of pages of tax code with a simple flat tax without deductions, for example, or the replacement of too big to jail/fail banks with community-owned banks that served the public, not shareholders.
But the attraction of reforms is a siren song, because our system is run by vested interests for vested interests, period. Any real reform is Dead On Arrival (DOA) because any real reform threatens the swag and security of vested interests.
One person’s livelihood is another person’s vested interest.
Toss in The Enchanting Charms of Cheap, Easy Credit and Our Spoiled-Brat Economyand we have a toxic resistance to systemic reforms that require any degrowth, direct democracy, writedowns of debt, devolution of centalized power, i.e. any real reforms of the unsustainable status quo.
So where does that leave us? With no choice but to submit? No, it leaves us with private solutions, by which I mean arrangements made on the individual and household level that do not assume the unsustainable status quo will magically continue to issue us our “we wuz promised” share of the swag.
Private solutions subdivide into practicalities (securing multiple income streams, choosing where to live, arranging access to healthcare, food and energy, proximity to friends and family, like-minded colleagues, etc.) and what we might term self-fulfillment: aligning our internal goals, priorities, personality traits, values and skills with the practical externalities of daily life.
Longtime correspondent Bart D. recently responded to an email in which I expressed the all-too common sense of being overwhelmed–by work, duties, responsibilities.His response gives us a starting place for choosing our priorities and goals:
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
