Downward Spiral
I’ve finally started educating myself on the current economic crisis. However we move past this current credit crunch (soft landing vs. hard landing), the fact is that Americans will likely face a lower standard of living within our lifetimes. You might not have believed that the decline of the American Empire had begun up until 2008, but it’s clearly in motion now.
Unfortunately, the imperial decline could have dire effects, worldwide. Whatever your opinion on the fairness of an empire, one thing it can promote is stability. If our capacity to service our national debt diminishes to the point where we have to remove our military presence from the hundred or so nations where we have bases, we may see scores of regional wars in the power vacuum.
Additionally, an empire in decline has few resources to devote to stewardship of the enviroment (or, put more simply, long-term planning.) We can elect as progressive a government, come November. The US may simply be unable to withstand the political and economic costs of raising energy prices in order to combat global warming.
Perhaps another nation will take up the role of “global policeman.” Perhaps dramatic new technologies will save our GHG-saturated climate. The future is unknown, but the dire scenarios are looking worse and more likely than ever.
Related Posts:
- Paul Hackett on being “Progressive” (October, 2005)
- A Church Asunder (June, 2006)
- The Money Man’s Burden (September, 2006)
- Government Services are Necessary for Competitive Business (October, 2005)
- Hutus vs Tutsis: an Op-Ed (November, 2007)
October 9th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Note: Orange asked me where all this doom and gloom was coming from.
This is the thing about carbon pricing that got me thinking.
A conversation with ken lynch got me thinking about what it would mean for us to dramatically reduce military spending.
And if you guys want a really depressing worldview, check this guy out.