Wednesday, October 12, 2011

12 October 2011 Friedman rides again


Something’s Happening Here
Published: October 11, 2011
When you see spontaneous social protests erupting from Tunisia to Tel Aviv to Wall Street, it’s clear that something is happening globally that needs defining. There are two unified theories out there that intrigue me. One says this is the start of “The Great Disruption.” The other says that this is all part of “The Big Shift.” You decide…”
            Paul Gilding, the Australian environmentalist and author of the book “The Great Disruption,” argues that these demonstrations are a sign that the current growth-obsessed capitalist system is reaching its financial and ecological limits. “I look at the world as an integrated system, so I don’t see these protests, or the debt crisis, or inequality, or the economy, or the climate going weird, in isolation — I see our system in the painful process of breaking down,” which is what he means by the Great Disruption, said Gilding..”
Cassi Creek:
          I tend to strongly agree with Gilding.  The idea that our GNP is limitless is ridiculous.  All our raw materials are limited as are our sources of energy.  We are over-breeding and under-educating.  There are limits on the number of people the planet can sustain. 
          The people who insist that increasing national is potentially without limit are people who have never really studied hard sciences.  These are the politician and financial thieves who continually talk about “growing our economy.”  As with the misuse of “issue” for “problem,” when I hear “grow our economy” I tend to believe the speaker is not familiar with English as a primary language.  I felt William F. Buckley to be politically unacceptable.  However, he was literate.  I miss that in our current politicians. 

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