Hello neighbour, greetings from Slovenia. I've been reading your essays for a while, but I don't comment much. I usually agree with most what you have to say, including this piece. However, I'll use this opportunity to suggest something that's tangential to today's topic, but may add another layer of nuance to your already intricate analysis of our predicament. I'd love to hear your opinion on how Howard T. Odum's concept of maximum power principle ties into what you're describing (an example, the section on economics is toward the end: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2022.0290). My background is in STEM, so it fascinates me to no end on how we may only be playing out a mere thermodynamic principle. Of course if we zoom in, this is a gross oversimplification, but as a second- or third-order effect ... An eerie systemic self-selection/self-organisation. For today's topic, this is relevant in the sense that children are a currently an untapped "source" of power for the system to use and dissipate, so if it can, it will. Effectively it proves your predictions right.
Actually capitalism is easy to understand. It is a cultural construct. A social scaleup tech that enabled growth in output per person by creating a form of prestige involving capital accumulation.
We had a better kind of capitalism 60 years ago. It did not disappear because of "structural changes" but rather because of policy. We probably could return to what we had then by changing policy,
Indeed, it is a term of art. And it also notably excludes Australia and New Zealand. Basically, "Global South" is the modern synonym for "Third World", while "Global North" is a synonym for "First World".
"And so the whole goddamn Ponzi scheme begins swaying like the house of cards it always was, using debt and future debt and the debt after that in the place of cards. A social security system based on a generational contract that was broken anyway by the baby boomers, who are leaving behind an uninhabitable, empty, and lifeless dystopia, was, perhaps, not such a great idea after all.
Capitalism is indeed one big, massive Ponzi scheme, no argument from me there. But Social Security itself can still be redeemed IF we would finally put to rest the Big Lie that federal taxes actually fund federal spending (they don't) or that public debt is actually real (it's an accounting fiction). See Rodger Malcolm Mitchell and Monetary Sovereignty, which is like MMT but much more accurate.
Please like and share this essay to spread awareness.
I’m 35 and I’ve been working since I was 12 years old. Full time working by the age of 16. I barely remember what it’s like to not work anymore.
You deserve some peace, my man.
This is a pretty accurate prediction I think.
Hello neighbour, greetings from Slovenia. I've been reading your essays for a while, but I don't comment much. I usually agree with most what you have to say, including this piece. However, I'll use this opportunity to suggest something that's tangential to today's topic, but may add another layer of nuance to your already intricate analysis of our predicament. I'd love to hear your opinion on how Howard T. Odum's concept of maximum power principle ties into what you're describing (an example, the section on economics is toward the end: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2022.0290). My background is in STEM, so it fascinates me to no end on how we may only be playing out a mere thermodynamic principle. Of course if we zoom in, this is a gross oversimplification, but as a second- or third-order effect ... An eerie systemic self-selection/self-organisation. For today's topic, this is relevant in the sense that children are a currently an untapped "source" of power for the system to use and dissipate, so if it can, it will. Effectively it proves your predictions right.
Actually capitalism is easy to understand. It is a cultural construct. A social scaleup tech that enabled growth in output per person by creating a form of prestige involving capital accumulation.
https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/how-cultural-evolution-works
We had a better kind of capitalism 60 years ago. It did not disappear because of "structural changes" but rather because of policy. We probably could return to what we had then by changing policy,
https://mikealexander.substack.com/p/why-the-postwar-prosperity-was-not
Global South?
Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and everywhere in Asia is basically North of the Equator.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_child_labour_rate
Indeed, it is a term of art. And it also notably excludes Australia and New Zealand. Basically, "Global South" is the modern synonym for "Third World", while "Global North" is a synonym for "First World".
Thank you Antonio🙏
"And so the whole goddamn Ponzi scheme begins swaying like the house of cards it always was, using debt and future debt and the debt after that in the place of cards. A social security system based on a generational contract that was broken anyway by the baby boomers, who are leaving behind an uninhabitable, empty, and lifeless dystopia, was, perhaps, not such a great idea after all.
Capitalism is indeed one big, massive Ponzi scheme, no argument from me there. But Social Security itself can still be redeemed IF we would finally put to rest the Big Lie that federal taxes actually fund federal spending (they don't) or that public debt is actually real (it's an accounting fiction). See Rodger Malcolm Mitchell and Monetary Sovereignty, which is like MMT but much more accurate.
Just a thought... https://ismatu.substack.com/p/everything-is-free-no-more-paywalls