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agoodwinsmithYou know that I have been thinking that the current state of capitalism is like that of sheep farmers who used to shear the sheep and sell the wool and shear the sheep again, but who in a fit of greed have skinned the sheep for the luxury sheepskin rug market (because the money-in-hand was so swoon-inducingly satisfying), and are now standing around the sheepfold wondering why the sheep seem so listless.
Aftershock is a more detailed look a why gutting your consumer class is stupid ( http://www.amazon.ca/Aftershock-Next-Economy-Americas-Future/dp/0307476332 - see especially review near bottom by ronbc for the gist), but with the current crop of conservative crofters in power everywhere, we know that powerful people currently would rather drink their fill from the cistern and then use it for a latrine, than share it with the people they stole it from through freshly-minted legal "laws". (Privatization. ptui) So we know the stupidity will continue.
This week I read this article: The End of Capitalism Has Begun. (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/17/postcapitalism-end-of-capitalism-begun?CMP=share_btn_fb)
While I think he is mostly right, that people are starting to use new ways of living since the old ones are broken, I don't think he is right to expect the center of the old system to help in its own demise. Feudalism didn't gracefully get out of the way; people stepped outside of a weakened system and created new ways of living. The people at the centre of the old system fought tooth and nail to retain their privilege, and there are old feudal laws still to be recinded (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quern-stone#Laws_against_use [1]).
What I think is going to happen is as I said before - people will start doing new things, and will simply stop even thinking about the old ways. There is some new evidence that the Mayan centers not so much fell as simply withered from neglect as the common people moved into the forest (http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/summer-2015/article/classic-ancient-maya-collapse-not-caused-by-overpopulation-and-deforestation-say-researchers).
So, I don't expect Capitalism to fall in a big sparkly cataclysm; I expect little pieces to occasionally fall off. Crumble crumble crumble, and people will start using the rubble for something new; and the people at the centre will believe that they always liked the new lean, streamlined operation. Sleek, baby, oooo: so trim.
By the way. I don't expect the new ways of living to be idyllic. People are people.
[1] - isn't that nice? Once a landlord had a mill, he could destroy a poor person's tool for making food easier to eat. Laws of appropriation newly minted for each occasion.
Aftershock is a more detailed look a why gutting your consumer class is stupid ( http://www.amazon.ca/Aftershock-Next-Economy-Americas-Future/dp/0307476332 - see especially review near bottom by ronbc for the gist), but with the current crop of conservative crofters in power everywhere, we know that powerful people currently would rather drink their fill from the cistern and then use it for a latrine, than share it with the people they stole it from through freshly-minted legal "laws". (Privatization. ptui) So we know the stupidity will continue.
This week I read this article: The End of Capitalism Has Begun. (http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/17/postcapitalism-end-of-capitalism-begun?CMP=share_btn_fb)
While I think he is mostly right, that people are starting to use new ways of living since the old ones are broken, I don't think he is right to expect the center of the old system to help in its own demise. Feudalism didn't gracefully get out of the way; people stepped outside of a weakened system and created new ways of living. The people at the centre of the old system fought tooth and nail to retain their privilege, and there are old feudal laws still to be recinded (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quern-stone#Laws_against_use [1]).
What I think is going to happen is as I said before - people will start doing new things, and will simply stop even thinking about the old ways. There is some new evidence that the Mayan centers not so much fell as simply withered from neglect as the common people moved into the forest (http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/summer-2015/article/classic-ancient-maya-collapse-not-caused-by-overpopulation-and-deforestation-say-researchers).
So, I don't expect Capitalism to fall in a big sparkly cataclysm; I expect little pieces to occasionally fall off. Crumble crumble crumble, and people will start using the rubble for something new; and the people at the centre will believe that they always liked the new lean, streamlined operation. Sleek, baby, oooo: so trim.
By the way. I don't expect the new ways of living to be idyllic. People are people.
[1] - isn't that nice? Once a landlord had a mill, he could destroy a poor person's tool for making food easier to eat. Laws of appropriation newly minted for each occasion.
