Due to circumstances beyond our control (i.e. we screwed up), we regrettably did not post yesterday. Rest assured that those responsible for this travesty have had their dessert privileges revoked.
With the increasing potency of the 2007 Depression shaking the starch out of the world economy, a surprising amount of dirt is presenting itself. Take Bernard Madoff, whose nimble fingers seems to have found every pie. But in this game of musical chairs, it won't be just individuals and organisations which end up with no chair beneath their tush. With the global implications of this depression, we expect some nations will be among those looking stupid when the music stops.
Take the obvious, our favourite whipping-boy for all things hyperinflationary: Zimbabwe. With several name-changes behind it in the recent past, this much-embargoed country may be due for another. There are also the faux nations of Somalia and Yemen, where the 'official' government draws lines on a map of where they'd like their sphere of influence to be.
However, the bigger threats, at least according to the United States military, are Pakistan and Mexico. Neither nations are the paragons of stability, as both are wraked with violent resistance against the central government: Pakistan is fighting 'The Terrorist'; Mexico has lost chunks of Chiapas to the Zapatistas. Mexico is also facing the collapse of their Cantarell oil field (which suffered a 36% drop in 2008 production alone), upon which the government is heavily dependent for its budget.
A facet of world events we've been missing for a while is the novelty of a brand-new world map. Our only wall-sized map, for instance, still has the U.S.S.R. on it. And just when we were beginning to think about getting a new one, the whole world goes into a depression. Thank heavens, we say: now we have an excuse to not get a new map!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Yes, Mexico is a real issue.
I think that unless people realize that once we become a global village our decisions literally do become zero sum, they will not recognize they need to start deciding what they really want and what they can do without. And if they do not recognize these things, things could get very ugly very very fast.
But collective cognitive dissonance is very hard to overcome
I don't think that most people have even reached the cognitive dissonance phase yet, to be honest. Too many people have placed too much faith in President-elect Obama's ability to 'turn things around.' It's patently irrational, as far as I can see... but it's taken hold nonetheless. I fear that many people are in for some disappointment in the coming years.
As for zero-sum, I sadly feel that the concept of a zero-sum world is completely foreign to the majority. Cornucopianism, 'progress,' and technology-worship (for lack of a better term) are still too much part-and-parcel of the average person's mental make-up -- what the sociologists would call a perception bias.
Post a Comment