Tuesday, August 23, 2011

today's favorite story: following systemic collapse...

you sometimes find the good grubs under the most inconspicuous rock. so it is with this piece from marketwatch, on the coming disintegration of life as we know it:

A ‘no-growth’ boom will follow 2012 global crash - Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch: SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — There is a global economic boom coming, but unfortunately, that boom comes only after a systemic collapse of the global economy, markets and capitalism — a collapse that may well eliminate billions of people from the planet. Shocking? Cruel? Brutal? Yes.

But folks, that is the coded message in many recent warnings from environmental economists who finally realize that nothing will wake up the public. Nothing but a catastrophic system failure. Only then, a path to reform, recovery, a new boom.

while it's not a thigh-slappin' good-time tale, it does have the ring of truth. we've been conditioned, as the piece says, to keep our noses in the air as we go about in our arrogant, self-assured manner towards virtually certain destruction. don't tell anyone to worry about whether the path we're on is sustainable or even desirable. just keep on keepin' on, until we run outta road and the next step is over a cliff...

this subject is one that fascinates me, and i think it's what drives me to old cemeteries, in an indirect way. i walk around and think about a time when nature was in control, and no one had the chutzpah to think that man's ingenuity would allow us to overcome limits to our "growth" as a society or a species. earlier times, when people lived closer to the earth, let them keep their feet on the ground in a way we can't imagine now, when we think a new gadget or gizmo can keep us around forever.

it can't.

No comments:

Post a Comment