Wally Banter wrote: ↑Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:04 am
The most depressing element here is how far we are away from a society in which most people (including myself in this) can:
- understand political issues (like the economy) at even a rudimentary level;
- recognise non-defensively the influences of power and oppression
- properly appraise information and its credibility (including media bias)
- explore their individual unconscious biases and insecurities, and how these might affect their decisions
- listen to opposing views with openness and empathy, rather than blaming, attacking and judging which only widens the divide with others
I wish these things would be prioritised in education, so that we might end up with future generations of astute, politically engaged, reasonable people.
If it's any comfort (and it wont be), we've never been close to achieving any of this across the population, and it was probably never realistic.
From the 1950s up until 2008 the West experienced unprecedented growth and prosperity on a per-capita basis which meant that most people were happy to rub along reasonably well. This was through favourable demographics, globalisation and a US-led security guarantee.
But it was always going to end. Our societies are ageing out of the pre-existing socio-economic consensus being sustainable. The solution thus far - mass immigration - is now at levels that exceed those even the USA experienced in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It's an untested experiment that risks civil unrest, especially as we begin to observe reversals in GDP per capita (fascism becomes very real when people become poorer
because of immigration).
And through the emergence of other regional powers and the desire for the US into further isolation, we're now in a multi-polar world. Trade barriers are likely to become the norm, resulting in further inflation and reduction in living standards.
It's going to be like living in the 19th century, but with added tech. Living in a low-growth, multi-polar world is going to suck in comparison with what we had before. And nobody alive will understand how best to navigate that reality.
Sorry, I started typing in an attempt to try and cheer you up but it would appear that we're dooooomed!