The Future of You - in America
Posted: Sunday, November 13, 2011
by e
Dhammabucha Rocksprings Meditation
The economies of the world are leveling. Our standard of living in America is 10 times greater than developing nations, yet we have only 300 million people. China and India, who are rapidly catching up to us technologically, have 3,000 million people, and . . . well, you do the math.
Only a small percentage of Americans will be able to sustain their standard of living in the future, people like oil and gas workers, physicians, politicians, etc. That’s maybe 30 million elite that will do well and will continue to do well, while the other 270 million of us will see our standard of living level out with the rest of the 90%ers in the world.
90% of the future jobs will become substandard, meaning that they will be low skill level jobs with sparse or non-existent benefits that anyone in the world can do with little or no training. Therefore, the standard of living must fall for people who are this level which includes the vast majority of Americans.
Since capitalism’s strength and incentive is greed, there will be no social responsibility entering into any bottom line. Unless capitalism itself is threatened by the masses of people who are, or shortly will be, left out in the cold, capitalism will have no incentive to worry about the needs of society.
Until it becomes apparent that including the 90% of society, that is declining, is good for business, the 10% will ignore the 90%. This is the only rationale that will work with capitalism because capitalism by nature feeds on greed.
At the end of all the chaos and confusion that will result in this mega-shift of world economics, a socialistic/capitalistic model must develop; models that are so highly successful now in Scandinavian countries. Otherwise, unrest and social upheaval will not only freeze the American economy but may actually undo America’s societal model.
In the meantime, consumerism - living off of borrowed money to indulge in luxuries not reachable by developing nations - cannot be sustained by the 90%. Market realities will force Americans to give up their luxuries and become accustomed to living a very frugal life.
Other than the privileged 10% of the population who have good positions in society and will be able to sustain their luxury status, the other 90% will have to make ends meet the best they can.
Eventually, corporations will see the need to include all of their society into their bottom lines. This means that products will be produced on the basis of mass affordability rather than maximum profits off of each manufactured item.
Making goods and services affordable to the masses is just good business. On a worldwide scale this will work, with everyone on a level playing field regarding the 90%ers in the world.
It will take time for costs to decline. The “haves” will be reluctant to cut their profits. I. e., physicians will resist reducing their office visit rates of $200.00 until they have no more office visits! During this period of transition, as corporations and individuals resist making adjustments, the 90%, and especially the very poor will suffer greatly, in essence being without health care and having limited access to very basic necessities.
The safeguard of preventing social riots during this interim period will be the job of government. The people, as represented by the government, will have to force the 10% to share the wealth and provide basic infrastructure, electricity, and financial market mechanics that will include the 90%.
This is especially true of very basic social safety nets – a crucial area. If the 90% does not have access to even basic health care while the 10% have access to the best, there will be social unrest and possibly even anarchy.
Because the 10% does not believe this unrest will develop into anything more than lazy hippies protesting at parks, they will not react to social needs as altruism has no place in a corporate balance sheet. Until their business model is disrupted by either a lack of consumerism or the threat of anarchy and a complete collapse of government, they must be regulated from the outside in order to save themselves.
Without regulation, capitalists will remain true to their instincts which are bottom line only, with society and workers only markets to be exploited.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)I don't believe in violence to obtain our goals for a balanced budget or way of life. However the goals of anarchism are positive if carried out peacefully to reach their goals. Thanks for sharing your views e.Thanks David, I agree and I don't think it will come to violence in America unless the 10% turn their backs on the poor.
Interesting analysis, e, and I agree with your assessment for the most part. The earth has become interconnected and it should be obvious to everyone that what we're experiencing is a leveling of economies. Any politician that doesn't recognize the inevitability of this is, in my opinion, too incompetent to hold elected office.
One thing I'd add is that I believe it will become common for families to form communities to share expenses, often including houses. Households will likely have 3-4 full-time bread-winners instead of 1.7, which has been the average up until the recession started in 2007. When a person considers what is really important in life, this might not be such a bad lifestyle.Hi Bruce, I agree with your assessment as well. If we look at rural America 100 years ago, or most of china and India now, we will see no government safety nets. Kids have to begin saving at a young age so that they can support their parents in old age. This naturally increases savings rates and subdues excessive consumerism. This can be a good thing and a good way to live. Living on credit that is too accessible only leads to trouble. Encouraging borrowing as an economic model is counter productive in the long run. But a good government, like a good parent or good children, look out for the entire family, not only the gifted or fortunate ones. Therefore, I do believe that a combination of socialism and capitalism, as modeled in countries like Sweden, is the long term answer.Yes, absolutely. A while back, Jean and I had the opportunity, if we really wanted to, to move our family to Sweden. Life in Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries is very much overlooked in the US. Compared to life in the USA, it's almost utopian. Maybe we made a mistake.I’ve had the opportunity to live in other countries and have become less nationalistic because of it. In my humble opinion, Thailand, the U.K., New Zealand, and even India have cultural qualities that are difficult to put a finger on but are like a breath of fresh air compared to the U.S. I can best explain it by the word mercenary. It’s as if the U.S. is one big car dealership, dishonest, lying and greedy, being nice to you so they can either get your money or your talent. The other countries that I have lived in are not like that.
But becoming an expatriate is not for everyone. Young people love overseas travel because they haven’t formed strong attachments and have few personal responsibilities at home. Their parents are still young and active and don’t need help, they have no children to worry about, etc. There is also culture shock. While young people love new things, as we get older we get set in our ways. It’s also difficult to become included in foreign country’s’ generous safety nets unless you are a citizen, and becoming a citizen costs money.
Probably best to remain in the U.S. and sink or swim with the rest of us! However, if health care insurance does increase much more, or prices continue to rise, we will probably be forced to move to Thailand. We would have to pay cash there for health care instead of making insurance payments, but let’s face it, paying cash for health care in Thailand is cheaper than the out of pocket expenses and deductibles that the insurance companies are gouging us for here, plus outrageous payments of up to $15,000 a year for a couple. I could get a heart transplant in Thailand for $15,000! And you can’t trust American insurance companies; they will drop you whenever they feel like it, especially if you come down with a serious, expensive illness no matter how healthy you have been in the past or how long you have paid premiums. Like I said, The U. S. is becoming a huge car dealership and we are the marks. For example, we pay up to ten times more for drugs in America than many other countries. This is all a result of policies during the last thirty years that have funneled America’s wealth and power to the top. The Eurozone may be in financial trouble, but their citizens can at least see a doctor and go to college without having to sell the farm!
I guess that all depends on what you mean by financial trouble. If by that you mean that the wealthy are hoarding the capital in order to impress the Jones', then we're already there. Society ultimately decides who controls the wealth and history teaches us that often times it eventually has to be pried from their cold, dead hands.Great visual - cold, dead hands! Corporations are getting confused. When the customer came first, then the worker, and only then the owner or stockholder, ll Americans did well. The country prospered. Now the top 10% that holds 80% of America's wealth pay only 40% of the taxes.
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