Thanks. It's good to know that I'm not crazy, that somebody else is noticing too. I've recently realized that all my efforts to make sense of the the increasingly senseless public discourse since 2016 -- including its wider and wider disconnect with actual reality -- has been increasingly both unproductive and exhausting. My latest theory is that we are at one of those major crisis points in history, where the internal contradictions of the old order become so great that it must break down to allow space for a new order to be created, however disruptive and destructive the process is. An example might be Europe in the early 1900s when the old system of corrupt monarchies, religious institutions, colonial empires and great power rivalries broke down under the pressures of advanced industrial capitalism: advanced transportation, communication and military technologies: class conflict and secular ideologies. The result was World War 1, the Great Depression, World War II, decolonization, the Cold War and a complete reordering of the world in ways totally unimaginable to anyone living in, say, 1914, even though many people suspected something was going to happen. My sense is that new order established after World War II is now falling apart due to a variety of powerful contradictions and forces and we are heading into a similar crisis period, the results of which will be both very disruptive and impossible to predict in advance. The coming disruptions will be felt most strongly in America, which has been at the center of the World order for most of the last 100 years. The contradictions in this order have become too great and a crisis is inevitable. Causes include the globalization and the internet, along with the inability of America to continue its domination (and exploitation) of the world. Will we handle the fall from primacy as gracefully as Great Britain? Will we avoid the dislocations and devastations of much of the Twentieth Century? Will our fragile democracy survive? How will we meet challenges of nuclear and global climate change. What new opportunities will open up if we humans do manage to survive this inevitable period of "creative destruction?"
Excellent writing Carol. My existential angst has somehow been lessened.
Thanks, Tom! Great to hear from you :)
Thanks. It's good to know that I'm not crazy, that somebody else is noticing too. I've recently realized that all my efforts to make sense of the the increasingly senseless public discourse since 2016 -- including its wider and wider disconnect with actual reality -- has been increasingly both unproductive and exhausting. My latest theory is that we are at one of those major crisis points in history, where the internal contradictions of the old order become so great that it must break down to allow space for a new order to be created, however disruptive and destructive the process is. An example might be Europe in the early 1900s when the old system of corrupt monarchies, religious institutions, colonial empires and great power rivalries broke down under the pressures of advanced industrial capitalism: advanced transportation, communication and military technologies: class conflict and secular ideologies. The result was World War 1, the Great Depression, World War II, decolonization, the Cold War and a complete reordering of the world in ways totally unimaginable to anyone living in, say, 1914, even though many people suspected something was going to happen. My sense is that new order established after World War II is now falling apart due to a variety of powerful contradictions and forces and we are heading into a similar crisis period, the results of which will be both very disruptive and impossible to predict in advance. The coming disruptions will be felt most strongly in America, which has been at the center of the World order for most of the last 100 years. The contradictions in this order have become too great and a crisis is inevitable. Causes include the globalization and the internet, along with the inability of America to continue its domination (and exploitation) of the world. Will we handle the fall from primacy as gracefully as Great Britain? Will we avoid the dislocations and devastations of much of the Twentieth Century? Will our fragile democracy survive? How will we meet challenges of nuclear and global climate change. What new opportunities will open up if we humans do manage to survive this inevitable period of "creative destruction?"
Thanks for the great comment! Very well said.
Terrific read
Thanks!