tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post8688786198700926155..comments2024-03-22T05:20:44.167-07:00Comments on The Disaffected Lib: Capitalism's ObituaryThe Mound of Soundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-20156673095608408342016-12-24T00:29:27.012-08:002016-12-24T00:29:27.012-08:00Excellent point, TrailBlazer. This has never dawne...Excellent point, TrailBlazer. This has never dawned on me yet it is brutally obvious.<br /><br />Neoliberalism, as embraced across our political spectrum, creates parties that are distinguishable, in relative terms, by minutiae. <br /><br />The New Dems abandoned the Left to become centrist. The Libs moved even further centre-right and the PCs went, as far as they could, full bore Republican.<br /><br />In this and other ways we seem to be degrading into something increasingly akin to a one party state in which distinctions, for practical purposes, become narrower and narrower.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-84804509273814366652016-12-23T19:15:28.623-08:002016-12-23T19:15:28.623-08:00China..
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/12/cha...China..<br />http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/12/chanos-is-a-big-change-underway-in-global-capitalism.html<br /><br />Within this article there is reference to the one party state of China.<br />Is it so different in the West?<br />I think we are kidding ourselves when talking about Democracy and choice.<br /><br />TB Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-9966671510858839642016-12-23T14:04:41.544-08:002016-12-23T14:04:41.544-08:007:26....How does Putin fit?7:26....How does Putin fit?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-27232033152206019422016-12-23T07:26:30.435-08:002016-12-23T07:26:30.435-08:00I think an anthropologist would that history, from...I think an anthropologist would that history, from the Industrial Revolution and, especially, the dawn of the 20th century, has accelerated in many ways as never before experienced in the 11-12,000 year history of civilization.<br /><br />It wasn't until the early 19th century that our numbers first reached a billion. A century more to double that. In my lifetime we've tripled that again.<br /><br />We've entered the first geological epoch essentially steered by a species, our own, something we achieved in just two centuries - a flash in the 5 billion year timeline of our planet. We have reached staggering levels of resource consumption, in the process sowing the seeds of our own inevitable collapse and triggering anthropogenic climate change.<br /><br />So, yes, I think that the conditions, restraints, that once saw empires lasting centuries have been swept aside. We applied far too much of our ingenuity, effort and capital to overcoming the restrictions that once held us in check especially in the ultimate consumer society.<br /><br />It's increasingly clear that we've outstayed our welcome in this postwar paradigm, that brief interval in which we've trebled our population even while greatly expanding our per capita consumption and waste. In the process we have created the first deeply integrated global civilization. Trudeau openly proclaims this deep integration a good thing, oblivious to its pitfalls and repercussions.<br /><br />Jared Diamond, in his book "Collapse," observes that civilizations collapse quite abruptly and always at their zenith. In the past, however, civilizations were national, regional at most, and when one collapsed the next in line rose to claim the mantle. The Brits were the exception but they wee wise enough to bow out gracefully (sort of).<br /><br />Are we headed for another Dark Age? Judging by the indifference our governments are showing to the existential challenges facing us today (which I've organized in three categories - overpopulation, overconsumption and climate change) a dystopian future could indeed await our children and grandchildren. Some science types have come to believe we have triggered a 6th mass extinction event. These are possibilities best not to dwell on.<br /><br />Donald Trump may well be the straw on the camel's back, the catalyst of an abrupt American decline perhaps bordering on collapse. It's almost painful to watch.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-16726784094438202222016-12-23T06:34:10.697-08:002016-12-23T06:34:10.697-08:00Merry Christmas to you too Mound. I'm sure we ...Merry Christmas to you too Mound. I'm sure we all need a break from the madness that this year has been. <br /><br />I was thinking about this post I was wondering about this issue - it seems that historical processes speed up as time goes by. Where once empires lasted hundreds of years, modern empires seem to have an increasingly short life-span. It seems that major social (normative) changes once took generations, some of them seem to come upon us very quickly, etc. I have a vague memory of someone having made this case as a theory of history in my more academic days but I can't recall who it was. Anyway, I'm sure you get the idea without a long explanation. If the idea is solid, it makes me wonder if crises would also speed up. So where the so-called dark-age between the fall of Rome and the beginning of more organized feudalism took hundreds of years, would another "dark-age" take place in a sort of modern "sped-up" timeframe, or would the break down of capitalism itself nullify this effect of speed? It's just a thought experiment that I find compelling. <br /><br />Kirbycairohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17528654183160305877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-3572063347722046302016-12-22T23:05:30.032-08:002016-12-22T23:05:30.032-08:00We could be entering a new era??
http://www.strat...We could be entering a new era??<br /><br />http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2016/12/18/eu-its-future-mulling-cooperation-with-moscow-counter-trump.html<br /><br />TBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-2851686966384843002016-12-22T17:17:07.112-08:002016-12-22T17:17:07.112-08:00Yes, indeed, Kirby and a Merry Merry to you and yo...Yes, indeed, Kirby and a Merry Merry to you and yours. It's people who engage with these issues as you do who will eventually coalesce into the movement we await.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931256.post-7849500603349679742016-12-22T11:56:01.782-08:002016-12-22T11:56:01.782-08:00Ho ho ho. . . Ho ho ho. . . Kirbycairohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17528654183160305877noreply@blogger.com