The long childhood of the human species is coming to an end. Childhood is wonderful, but it ends when we are old enough and smart enough to realize the sacrifices and the pain that our parents have experienced in order to support our growth. We have taken, taken, taken without thought of return. The same is true of the economic and financial system in which we are immersed. We have taken, taken, taken without thought of the cost to the support provided freely by the Earth, by the Nature in which we are immersed.
Like children, we have ignored what Earth is giving up in order to support our economic growth. Did you know that up until recently the costs of the raw materials taken from the earth, including the cost of repairing any damage done as a consequence of extracting them, did not appear in the equations of economists? It's pretty ease to make an economic entity look profitable if you ignore most of its costs.
For a long time, we also have paid no heed to the privations of others who provide goods and services that support the American Dream. Slowly the awareness has grown, starting with the Labor movement, whose struggles made it possible for workers to have a decent life. Lately awareness is growing of the deplorable conditions endured by workers in other countries, just as, closer to home, the living standards won by the labor unions are being systematically chipped away and dismantled. All of this is done in the name of "competitiveness". I read somewhere recently that not only have wages not kept pace with the inexorable rise of prices, but "real income", which I believe just means "adjusted for inflation", has not increased at all since the 1970s. Is anyone surprised that the economy is collapsing? Nobody can afford anything, and yet we now pay for almost everything, including stuff that used to be free (or nearly free) a generation ago (e.g. drinking water).
So to make it possible to continue squeaking by, we increase our burden of debt, and now we can buy even less stuff because part of our costs now is the expense of debt service. Have you ever given any thought as to why religions throughout history have condemned the charging of interest on debt? You can only lend money if you have more money than you need. The rich lend the money, and the rich collect the interest. The borrowers have to show a profit from what they borrowed, or they lose on both ends. If they profit, they still have to pay the interest. So the rich always get richer, and the poor are always debt slaves.
One grows up and eventually develops compassion for and understanding of one's parents. The species grows up when it develops compassion for and understanding of all the forces and entities that have supported us as we grew, principally the environment and the poor. It's telling that those whose vision does not extend past the end of their wallets almost universally refuse to give back to either one.
But time is running out. Soon the cost of exploiting raw materials from the environment and the cost of further growing the poor population will become so high that the economy will collapse. What do people do when disaster strikes? Where do they go when there's nowhere else to go? They turn to family, friends, and neighbors, to community self-help. Therein lies the beginnings of the solution.
Start now. Find out what the neighbors know how to do, and let them know what you know how to do. Along the way, you'll probably learn what special needs are around you. Maybe you can help with those. Maybe you know someone else who could help also. Don't be sucked in by trying to get a "fair exchange." Giving freely builds your personal capital, you might need help later that you can't foresee now.
The fact that we don't already do this speaks volumes. We haven't needed to. We pay for everything. Wonder why you don't know your neighbors?
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