General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Pain You Feel is Capitalism Dying
Last edited Tue May 10, 2016, 10:21 AM - Edit history (1)
NOTE: For whatever reason, I assume because of the @ symbol, the link doesn't work on DU. You can access the article by going to https://medium.com and typing the title of the piece and/or joe brewer in the search box.
Joe Brewer
The Pain You Feel is Capitalism Dying
It can be very confusing to know that you wont find a decent job, pay off student loans or put in a down payment on a house in the next few years even though you may have graduated from a top-tier university or secured glowing references from all those unpaid internships that got you to where you are today.
Even if you are lucky enough to have all of this going for you, youll still be one among hundreds of applicants for every job you apply for. And youll still watch as the world becomes more unequal, with fewer paid opportunities to do what you feel called to do in your work or for your life path.
Whats more, you wont find much help from your friends because most (if not all) of them are going through the same thing. This is a painful and difficult time that is impacting all of us at once.
.....(snip).....
Reason 1: There Are No More Profits to Extract.
As eloquently described in the writings of Jeremy Rifkin and Paul Mason, the primary motivator for capitalists to extract wealth from consumer exchange in the form of monetary gain is crippled by the fact that the science of wealth extraction has become so advanced that every new wave brings diminishing returns. What is called marginal cost by economists, the difference between how much it costs to produce something and what people are willing or able to pay for it, is nearly zero now for everything we manufacture or provide as a service. This zero marginal cost trend is breaking capitalism down by the unexpected outcome of its own spectacular success.
.....(snip).....
So the nails are in the coffin for capitalism. What remains to be seen is whether this will take down our globalized civilization as well. I am hopeful, yet sober about our prospects. Its going to be a very turbulent time (for the rest of our lives) but I think we can make it through this restlessness by acknowledging that its real, naming the architecture of wealth extraction that created these systemic harms, and dismantling this globalized system to release vital monetary resources for the emergence of a new, life-affirming paradigm for economic development. .............................(more)
https://medium.com/@joe_brewer/the-pain-you-feel-is-capitalism-dying-5cdbe06a936c#.s1gszmj55
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)Joe Brewer
I am a change strategist working on behalf of humanity, and also a complexity researcher, cognitive scientist, and evangelist for the field of culture design.
marmar
(77,131 posts)snooper2
(30,151 posts)LOL
tenderfoot
(8,443 posts)How about getting training in HVAC repair and a state license to work. Or how about the goal of having his/her own roofing company. Or how about becoming a vet. Or, maybe something that requires some type of skilled education?
snooper2
(30,151 posts)tenderfoot
(8,443 posts)You have an attitude toward towards work and the types of work that needs to be done don't you.
I will say this, working at a factory is a lot more honorable that trolling Democratic Underground for the American Enterprise Institute.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)I "almost" went to work there after high school as there is some nepotism going on...but went into telecom instead.
Also, I don't have tender feet- I used to run around in the backwoods of Missouri barefoot growing up. Also-
I don't troll for AEI, I troll for YOUTUBE! You meet Reggae Shark yet! GREATNESS
PatrickforO
(14,608 posts)Think for moment, will you, of how bad it feels to be on the bottom end of systematic wealth extraction. Debt slavery. Getting nickel and dimed by EVERYTHING. Going to the store only to find your favorite products are now in smaller containers but the price has gone up. Health 'care' copays ratcheting up. Financially crippling copays if you have the bad luck to be hospitalized. Rationed healthcare. Politicians mealy mouthing platitudes about 'controlling entitlements.' The lie merchants going into action to buy big oil a few more years before we get serious about climate change. Crippling student debt for your children and grandchildren.
The impossibility of getting ahead and the struggle just to have enough. The death of the middle class. Prozac all over the place. Depressed people. Guns, guns, guns. Our children being maimed in a nice forever war.
And who will we try for these crimes?