Potheads

Pretty, but potheads nevertheless. From today's photogallery at the CS Monitor.

Also in the Monitor today, an intriguing and somewhat scary op-ed regarding the potential for a revolutionary movement arising during the current great recession:

For the first time in generations, people are challenging the view that a free-market order – the system that dominates the globe today – is the destiny of all nations. The free market's uncanny ability to enrich the elite, coupled with its inability to soften the sharp experiences of staggering poverty, has pushed inequality to the breaking point.

(...)

Proponents of neoliberalism are indifferent to this history and dismiss the notion that "another world is possible" that could alleviate grinding misery and poverty around the world. But in opposition to the contemporary individualistic system of capitalism, evidence of a new global movement dedicated to social justice and human rights has sprung from the ashes of the past. Just in the past decade, we have witnessed the expansion of worker insurgencies, peasant and indigenous uprisings, ecological protests, and democracy movements.

(...)

People are inherently cautious and take extraordinary action only when they have little to lose and something to gain. The current economic crisis has pushed more people into poverty and despair than at any time since the early 20th century, to the point where alternatives to the current system can be considered.

This is a topic I've been discussing with friends for years. The trend of concentration of wealth among the very richest has been accelerating for decades, with a slight respite during the Clinton years. The impoverished have become much more so, and median wages have fallen with respect to inflation-adjusted dollars. During the 1970's, CEO wages were typically 40 times that of the average worker; that number is now around 500. Service wage jobs typically start at minimum wage, and top out, after years of experience, at a dollar or two higher than that. Even highly-demanding jobs, in terms of work, experience and training, are sickenly underpaid... as a beginning teacher, with a degree in geology, a masters in science education, and years of work experience, my salary was 18K. People are pissed.

However, I am a believer in capitalism. I feel it needs to be watched carefully and regulated. We have uncountable laws that allow authorities to watch, regulate, and if necessary, punish, private citizens, to safeguard and foster a safe, healthy society. Corporations, however, resist any such oversight. Their only concern, as far as I've been able to tell, is to maximize monetary profits. In fact, they are legally required to do so. What they don't seem to comprehend is that private citizens accept and adhere to most of the laws of the land because there is a realization that following the law has enormous long-term benefits. The corporations don't seem to understand that having, accepting and adhering to a code of law might prevent disasterous long-term consequences.

Like revolution.

I'm not going to go out on a limb and predict a revolution as a consequence of this particular recession. I'm not a historian, as is the author of the column quoted above. And he's not predicting a revolution either... he's just saying that all the necessary components, present in numerous other revolutions over the last 500 years, are in place.

However, I will say that if we don't see a reversal in the trends of the last 30 years, a revolution is inevitable. I know too many people who are fuming mad about their inability to make ends meet. To get necessary medical care for themselves or their loved ones. To get regular nutritious meals. As quoted above, when people have nothing to loose, when they can't meet the basic prerequisites of life, there is nothing to stop them from becoming violent in order to get those things.

I've been fearful that we're sort of teetering on the edge for years. I support our current political and economic systems, and perhaps I'm over-optimistic that they could be much improved with some tweaks- minor for the US political system, major economically. But if our global corporate economy does not find ways to reign in its abuse, misuse and disregard of humanity, there will be a revolution.

And the results, with the technologies, tools and devices available today, could plunge us into a new dark age. Or worse, extinction.