The sky is falling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also I don't think that the west is done. We have plenty of resources. The poor will suffer, but the nation's will continue to hold power and the wealthy class that is shrinking will be just fine.
Rome lasted 1,000 years. The eastern half of the empire lasted another 1,000. If we are "only" going to do as well as Rome, we have a way to go yet.
Did anyone actually read the article as opposed to a single line in the summary? We've already seen societies collapse, ie Syria, and with growth based on the "expectation" that innovation will continue at the same rate it has in the past, although the stats don't back this up, we will see a similar trend with other poor nations. You're already seeing immigration policies become stricter, nationalist sentiment in the first world and income inequality for the elite increasing.
I did. There's no doubt the US in particular and the West in general has been in decline for decades, but predicting imminent collapse seems a bit click-baity. There were also statements like this... “By 2050, the US and UK will have evolved into two-class societies where a small elite lives a good life and there is declining well-being for the majority,” Randers says. “What will collapse is equity.” ...as if that hasn't already been happening for a long time.
The Romans subsidized their agriculture production. The USA subsidizes its agriculture production. **mind-blown-illuminati-revelation.gif**
Rome rose because the maniple was more effective than the phalanx. Rome fell because the Magyar horse bow was more effective than the maniple. Or, according to Edward Gibbon, because of Christianity. I find it much more likely that we are in the phase where the Republic becomes the Empire. In that metaphor, The Donald plays Julius Caesar (I guess that makes him an Orange Julius?) and should probably be careful about turning his back on any Republican Congresmen who might be carrying a pocket knife.
We live in a world where if the Greeks default on their debt it can cause the entire world to fall into recession. There's a fragility to everything from many different angles. The idea that things will always continually get better and the world will never face something say as catastrophic as world war 2 is insane. And in war, the wealthy can be the first to be taken out depending on how things go. Nations are only a few hundred years old - it's a relatively new concept in human history. History says major change is inevitable, and power will shift because...power always shifts.
it’s a think piece about a midlevel band struggling with their own limitations in the harsh face of stardom.
We could have a collapse. It will likely be due to globalism. I imagine a late bronze age collapse is the best comparison, where one area sees major change or destruction, and it will then pull our interconnected system in new directions it can't handle.
You can blame "globalism" for future problems (although I think you should define what that means to you instead of making it seem like this vague xenophobic reference to blaming others) - but one thing is for sure - the modern system is what has made the rich rich - the amount of wealth generated in the last 20 years has been mind-boggling, and in a world where there was no economic trade pacts and the free flow of capital and resources - you would not be likely to have the standard of living you currently do have.
