Portion below; whole thing here: http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_28235.shtml
Our world cannot support 6 billion people living at the consumptive level of the United States. The economy cannot be predicted by useless non-scientific formulas. Growth cannot last forever. Markets are neither closed nor perfect. Humans do not always put self in front of others, the neoliberal consummate greedy individual, and quite in contrast, most humans will perform highly altruistic acts to help other people.
The one thing the current global picture has that is in common with economics is the ‘dismal’ part. The environment is changing, and if previous civilizations are any indication, we will either change and adapt with it…or go the way of the dinosaurs. The global war on terror with its black and white “with us or against us” mantra ensures ongoing wars of some type somewhere. Those wars are truly about resources creating the mess in the Middle East, from Israel/Palestine in the west, to the increasingly more troubled and dangerous borders of Pakistan/Afghanistan farther east, and will not abate any time soon, either with Obama or McCain at the helm.
Then there is the economy itself. If the economists truly know what is going on, how did we arrive at the above conditions (as they obviously have many economic variables within themselves) globally? Combine that with the enormous debt structures both within the United States and internationally, how are their magic formulas going to get us out of all this?
What to do? Think pessimistically globally, act positively locally, and continue to advocate and educate as best as possible. Perhaps someday when the politicians and economists cannot deliver us from disaster, then maybe millions upon millions of little actions will eventually break through their narrowly defined self-centred focus on growth and wealth accumulation at the expense of other people and the environment. In the meantime, don’t believe anything an economist might tell you. It’s all magic.
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