is about the economic and technological facts every Progressive needs to know--the neglected stories of the real economy
Energy (the end of the age of petroleum)
Money and the economics of the Predators
War and its destruction
Politics, class conflict, and power
Industrial / Environmental renewal
Food production, climate change and environmental collapse
Health care
Religion, Education, and Culture
The digital toys necessary to spread the word
regular themes
The Banksters
The ECONOMIC necessity of regulation
Planning and other Producer Class skills
"Readings and Meditations" on Elegant Technology
The commercial "mainstream" media has been in trouble for quite awhile now. I pretty much gave up on it in 1982. After four yea...
Elevator Speech #1--evolutionary thinking
Elevator Speech #2--Continuous geometric growth in a finite biosphere is impossible
Elevator Speech #3--Globalization can be good AND bad
Elevator Speech #4--Producers vs Predators and the importance of honesty
Elevator Speech #5--Believing in magic and the new dark ages
Elevator Speech #6--Education--what folks must know
Elevator Speech #7--inventing a sustainable future
Elevator Speech #8--The role of regulation
Elevator Speech #9--The pursuit of clarity
Elevator Speech econ #1—a rising tide lifts all boats
Elevator Speech econ #2—the economic importance of aesthetics
Being and acting stupid is a luxury Americans can no longer afford. That is maybe the only bright side of our our modern times filled with man-made and foolishly handled calamities, that people will become firsthand acquainted with the wisdom of the ages.
ReplyDeletePoliticians focused on gays and abortion, CNN et all reporting on picketing funerals and TomKat's celebrity divorce...not a big deal when the pantry is empty, Dad's out of work, and the family home is underwater.
This is Dust Bowl Era stuff with no California to run away to, so those 'New Deal' reforms that underlay Hopey/Changey 08 candidate Obama that were tossed aside in 09 may get a longer discussion this fall as crops failures come to reality.
Or the elites can wait for the riots...their call. I just think they will be surprised at the location of these riots, because they aren't gonna be downtown like a generation ago.
I say "no" as well, for much the same reason. Also, this quote attributed to Keynes comes to mind--just extend it to the country as a whole: "Markets can remain irrational a lot longer than you and I can remain solvent." The crazy and stupid can go on a lot longer than any sane person would expect.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, and for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteI work for the EPA. Asked one of my managers about the drought. He was surprised to learn we are even having one. Same with the lady at the register at the supermarket. What drought?
When homelessness was launched in the 80s they literally covered it up by pretending it did not exist. If they can pretend that city parks filled to overflowing with destitute families are invisible, I'm guessing painful increases in the cost of goods at the supermarket will be easy to brush off.
@Mike. Yes indeed, stupid IS a luxury that can only be afforded by the rich. We are about to discover just how expensive stupid is.
ReplyDelete@Bolo. GREAT quote!
@someofparts. HOW can a manager at EPA not know about this drought? One of the great attractions environmental studies held for me was that it is cross-disciplinary. To be good at it, you had to know a lot about a lot of things. Now none of us can know everything about a subject but how the heck do you ignore something that affects over half the counties in USA? In-freaking-credible.