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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: dybdahl who wrote (64089)	6/7/2010 8:13:47 AM
From: elmatador	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 217732

Times of empires falling are times when pessimism creeps in. See Oswald Spengler 100 years ago (Der Untergang des Abendlande or The Downfall of the Occident, is a two-volume work by Oswald Spengler) when Otoman, British, Romanoff and Habsburg aqll bite the dust at a single go. Quote: His description of the Faustian civilization is one where the populace constantly strives for the unattainable—making Western Man a proud but tragic figure, for while he strives and creates he secretly knows the actual goal will never be reached. Now today: Should This Be the Last Generation? By PETER SINGER Peter Singer is Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne. His most recent book is “The Life You Can Save.” So why don’t we make ourselves the Last Generation on Earth? If we would all agree to have ourselves sterilized then no sacrifices would be required — we could party our way into extinction! ... Even if we take a less pessimistic view of human existence than Benatar, we could still defend it, because it makes us better off — for one thing, we can get rid of all that guilt about what we are doing to future generations — and it doesn’t make anyone worse off, because there won’t be anyone else to be worse off.

To: dybdahl who wrote (64089)	6/7/2010 11:41:04 AM
From: benwood	Respond to of 217732

I see the barrier of entry money in several arenas: the millions of dollars for state elections and likely over a billion for next Prez; legal slander in political ads (i.e. swift-boating, false accusations, etc.); TV, the great enabler medium for divide and conquer of the microscopic attention span generation; a collapse in critical thinking; a greater desire to make others responsible for solving our problems (bailouts, handouts, A.D.D. drugs, etc.). Yes, you are right, the bubble did much to accelerate these sorts of characteristics of our society. The bubble has allowed the lie to persist so long that millions do not remember what came before when we had tens of millions of additional jobs versus tens of millions on 99-week unemployment. Notice there is far more drumbeat for the free stuff (health care, unemployment, great retirement plans) than for jobs. The jobs issue will ultimately require a lowering of our cost structure and that means a lowering of our standard of living (and more work!) and so it isn't really something people are asking for yet so long as the tooth fairy has not been exposed.