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Opinions/Editorials Title: Five bummer problems that make societies collapse “If anyone tells you that there’s a single-factor explanation for societal collapse,” says collapse guru Jared Diamond, “you know right away that they’re an idiot. This is a complex subject.” So, forget about peak debt, peak oil, peak climate, peak Harry Potter or even peak everything as the single most important problem that could bring today’s whole pulsing, beaming and txt-mssgng mess down into a lifeless pile of shorted-out microchips, rusted carburetors and busted sporks from Taco Bell. In a TED talk that Diamond gave in 2003 with eerie relevance for this very minute, the author of two books on collapse, the solid-gold hit Guns, Germs and Steel and the more recent Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, outlined five factors required for any advanced society to give up the ghost. snip Diamond thinks a big problem was that the rich and powerful were so into keeping up with the Joneses — “flogging” the land (that’s over-farming to you and me) to compete with other chiefs for who could bring in the most crops and support the biggest posse of loyal retainers — to do anything to stop the madness. Or, as Diamond puts it, there was a conflict between the short-term interest of the elites and the long-term interest of the whole society. And, since the chiefs and bishops were largely insulated from the problems that their reckless consumption created, they didn’t see how messed up things were getting until it was too late. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 25. #2. To: lucysmom (#0) (Edited) Five bummer problems that make societies collapse 1) Communists 2) Socialists 3) Progressive Multiculturalists 4) Greenies 5) Globalists
#7. To: hondo68 (#2) Five bummer problems that make societies collapse BUWAHAHAHAHAHA....intake....BUWAHAHA 8D The New Reality For Many (most) Baby Boomers Will Be To Work As Wage Slaves Until They Drop Dead The ruling class now visits on its domestic populations the same fate it has delivered for hundreds of years to those deeply unfortunate peoples who lived in targeted foreign countries. In their pursuit of power, wealth and dominion, the ruling class systematically brutalized, tortured, "relocated" and murdered those foreign peoples in vast numbers. (All this continues today, of course; see Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, et al.) .... England and the United States are hollowed-out societies, with their former productive capacity vanishing at an ever-increasing rate. In close alliance with the State, the most powerful and wealthiest corporations continue to amass record profits, but only by siphoning up every last bit of wealth held by the numerically greatest, but otherwise weakest and most defenseless, part of the population." Run out of Energy, you run out of civilization. See Libya for details....;}
#9. To: mcgowanjm (#7) The New Reality For Many (most) Baby Boomers Will Be To Work As Wage Slaves Until They Drop Dead Baby boomers had it better than anyone. They had no reason not to save money.
#14. To: A K A Stone (#9) Baby boomers had it better than anyone. They had no reason not to save money. Some did better, some did not. When I was a child, homelessness was a third world country problem and a great shame for those governments that valued human life so little.
#17. To: lucysmom (#14) Some did better, some did not. When I was a child, homelessness was a third world country problem and a great shame for those governments that valued human life so little. There were so many of us it was initially hard to find a job. I don't ever remember any homeless as a kid, the closest thing to it was the skid row drunks, but they were mostly in Oakland.
#18. To: mininggold (#17) There were so many of us it was initially hard to find a job. I remember that too. I don't ever remember any homeless as a kid, the closest thing to it was the skid row drunks, but they were mostly in Oakland.
Yep, we certainly didn't have homeless people in the burbs were I grew up.
#19. To: lucysmom (#18) Yep, we certainly didn't have homeless people in the burbs were I grew up. Back then there were residence hotels where people with little money were able to live. Like drive-in movies, they're nearly all gone now. Where I grew up, the next door neighbor worked as a butcher at Ralphs, and the guy across the street was a mechanic. Both owned their own homes, had kids and wives who didn't need to work. It was so different from today it's hard to believe it was real.
#21. To: Skip Intro (#19) Back then there were residence hotels where people with little money were able to live. Like drive-in movies, they're nearly all gone now. We do have residence hotels here but they charge about $40.00 a day. Homeless people do stay there, but only when they have the money.
#22. To: lucysmom (#21) We do have residence hotels here but they charge about $40.00 a day. That's really high. There are motels nearby that charge less than that.
#23. To: Skip Intro (#22) There are motels nearby that charge less than that. SF bay area? I imagine transportation to motels is a problem for the homeless.
#24. To: lucysmom (#23) SF bay area? No, Central coast.
#25. To: Skip Intro (#24) Some years back ABAG (Assoc. of Bay Area Governments) suggested how much low income housing was needed by each community; one town claimed they had already exceeded their quota because its residents provided rooms for their live-in help. True story.
Replies to Comment # 25. ABAG (Assoc. of Bay Area Governments) Self annointed, Communist, subUrban Meddlers...SCUMBAG is a better acronym.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 25. Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
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