Reality TV may have finally contributed to society. Ice skates in hell are at an all time high, while pork bellies are down.
In a brilliant move, a new series is coming that is showing families how to deal with tough times. Downsized, a new show on WE, we get to follow a family who went from $1.5 million to selling off personal possessions to make rent. This is great for a couple of reasons. If they succeed then there is a life lesson for millions of people. If they fail, the same lessons are there. These people will be the first in a long public downsizing as Americans come to grips with the problems we face, economically and socially. As a stark contrast, watch Hoarders or The Biggest Loser to see the result of our bloated and wasteful ways.
A huge power shift is going to come while the economy stabilizes and hopefully begins to come back. Wastefulness will no longer be chic, and creativity and hard work will divide the long term winners from the losers. The geek shall inherit the earth. That's our silver lining, but the journey we take will be a tough one. There is more to this than learning how to clip coupons and recycle leftovers. This is an attitude adjustment, long overdue. With a little humility and eye opening, we will get through.
there won't be any winners other than that very small percentage of the population with the disproportionate share of the world's wealth. the "creativity and hard work" folks (a group i assume you consider yourself a part of) that you talk about? in relative terms, they're now earning a lot less than their counterparts in this country 40 years ago and that trend is not going to change. social divisions and the enduring inability of humans to look past cosmetic differences to find obvious commonalities will enable some people to delude themselves into thinking they've won something. what most of you will be winning is more work, longer hours and (again, in relative terms compared to those in similar positions years ago) less money. but you won't be flipping burgers like those dummies at mcdonald's or begging for change like those losers on the corner or sleeping in an old refrigerator box under the bridge, so "whoopee!" you win!
ReplyDelete"we'll get through" means nothing. more and more people will sink and those of you/us who don't follow them will find any number of excuses not to give a serious fuck (ie: actually DO something), same as we do now. statistical maps and charts will be trotted out on a regular basis to offer any number of objective explanations why more and more people are going hungry or homeless while the rest of you/us will knuckle under and accept less money for the work we do in the desperate hope of avoiding a slot on one of those charts. america is no longer a first world country and it never will be again. market rules dictate that labor either has to be completely devalued (the way it is in much of the service sector) or cowed/conned into accepting considerably less than what it deserves (the way things are for most of the rest). do you see america moving away from a "market rules" economy anytime soon? really? good luck with that.
our fucked up economy will always be characterized by bubbles. those peaks and yawning valleys keep everybody unsettled and unsure.
the folks who keep their heads above water will continue to do only that. they'll never look at those who are failing and see anything other than that failure.
in a few years when things are even worse than now i'll pop in and remind you of this post.
have a good weekend...
signed,
a regular reader who hates libertarians and their repulsive social darwinist bullshit.
I'm an optimist. I don't think we will collapse, and I think in the end we will be forced to make some changes, some of which are good.
ReplyDeleteGetting through it is everything. We won't live in mansions, and we won't throw away enough food to feed millions. But we'll get through it, and are blessed with the resources to do it.
If things are as bad as you say they are going to be, then why continue to let Obama ruin our country?
ReplyDeleteGetting through it, giving as much help as possible and then some to get other people through it, and keeping the Republicans out of power, at least until we can stabilize this mess they made, are what we have to do.
ReplyDeleteIf that doesn't work, well, we'll have to pick up our torches and pitchforks and storm the castle. (Do the people living in "gated communities" realize they're putting a billboard out front saying, "Really worthwhile loot inside!"?)
(Clipping coupons is a sucker's game; save a quarter on a brand name that costs 50 cents more than the identical generic product.)
I don't think Obama is ruining the country so much as he inherited a mess. Rome didn't fall in a day, either.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise Joyful pretty much covered it.