General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLooking out over the wider world
Global civilization appears to be going down the rabbit hole. As more countries freak out over refugees, etc, they get more fascist and xenophobic. Democracy is on the defensive in many places. It's all just in time for climate collapse and massive global refugee problems due to water and food issues. The dystopians may be right - we may be at the brink of the cliff.
America under Trump is moribund. If the Republicans hold on to congress in 2018 and 2020, that's it. America as we knew it will be dead.
The convergence amazes me, but I have to admit, it's exactly what my research over the last decade indicated would happen. Accumulating stressors cause people to turn to authoritarians for protection. It's very similar to what triggered the emergence of patrist "civilization" 5,000 years ago according to anthropologist James De Meo in his book "Saharasia".
If it's not this election, it will be in one of the next few. The global social/biophysical stressors aren't going to go away, they're going to keep on getting worse. We're probably hooped.
If there is to be any hope for the world, it starts with keeping Republicans out of government.
http://www.paulchefurka.ca
Moostache
(9,895 posts)I fully expect some or all of the following to occur between now and 2025:
1) India and Pakistan nuclear exchanges
2) Israel and Iran nuclear exchanges
3) North Korean invasion of South Korea and massive war in Asia
4) Tribal conflagrations throughout Africa including genocides plural worse than Rwanda
5) "Security Patrols" of US military personnel across the southern border with orders to shoot on sight
And that's BEFORE we get to the really fun stuff like massive storms, heat waves, blizzards and weather pattern flux that devastates crop yields and leads to major famines and mass migration directly into the teeth of the armed conflicts.
A total collapse of capitalism is probably less than a decade away. Nations will at first retreat behind their own walls but soon re-emerge to attempt conquest of those around them. The US will fight China for control of South America and the Indonesia-Australia corridor, as well as Canada and Mexico for dominance of the continental resources of North America. Europe will devolve into a continent-wide Balkanization and associated ethnic cleanses. There will be nowhere to run to and nowhere to hide for the jackass rich bastards who seem to think owning islands in and around New Zealand will save their greedy asses...
Things are going to continue going south in a hurry, and once it starts in earnest, it will not stop until Homo Sapiens has been all but eliminated from the planet and a more suitable heir to the balance of life and resource utilization is reached. Life on this planet is going all the way back down to insects and then evolution will take over again. Maybe next time it will produce something with more of an instinct for self-preservation than greed...but maybe not...
The_jackalope
(1,660 posts)I can't find a single thing in your post to disagree with.
Nay
(12,051 posts)of this one. Even in the best of circumstances, humans can't seem to see far enough ahead of themselves to act in accordance with survival except at an individual or small-tribe level. Thus, extinction, or at least getting knocked back to the Stone Age.
CrispyQ
(36,231 posts)I find it ironic that the rich (mostly) white men who think they are so superior to the rest of us that they deserve to be in charge & are fighting so hard to stay in charge, are largely responsible for the policies & attitudes that have led to catastrophic climate change.
It's not looking very good for the human species.
Duppers
(28,094 posts)But it's already too late to save the planet - we can only postpone the collapse a bit. The situation proves that most rich people are also very stupid.