Dark and wet

Not to be sensationalistic, but there are many dark truths within the very structure of our economic system.

For one, the economy requires constant expansion and continual increases in consumption. Consumption requires a market. The market is people, with 24 hours a day to consume. This may sound like a lot, but how many toys can you play with? How many services can you use? We have many more things now than ever before, but even now it has reached a saturation point. Competition for our wants and needs is fierce. Those who succeed do so usually through extreme marketing and luck. We can spend more on certain things, but there is a limit on how many different things we can consume.

Two, marketing is to our sense of contentment as nicotine is to our health. Marketing plays on our primal senses, on our self esteem, on our competitive natures, on our identities, on whatever emotional lever they can dream up to make it seem that we need or want something. This is not healthy. I think an interesting parallel can be made between consumers of self-help books, watching tv, and general consumption. The people most likely to buy a self help book are the ones who have done so in the last six weeks; people who watch tv watch a lot of it: more than 22 hours per week on average; the average unsecured consumer debt in the US is around $25,000. Should I throw in obesity as another parallel? The point is, we already consume to an unhealthy degree and an increase consumption is essential to our economy. We must consume more, or the economy will fail.

What alternatives do we have?

What does a failed economy mean?

What is the worst that could happen?

Why does the economy need to expand? Recession, interest rates, consumer

What does expansion really mean? New markets niches, more consumption

But really, there is no real evidence, right? No reason to care – after all, what can we do? If we don't consume, we'll feel like we are missing out on all the latest toys and gadgets. And if enough of us don't consume (this is less likely than everyone going vegetarian) there will be an recession and we'll all lose our jobs.

Besides, global warming will cause a rise in the sea levels which will have a much more dramatic effect on our economies as coastal cities like New York, San Francisco, Bejing, Shaghai, etc, are majorly affected by flooding.

The best thing to do is have a good time while I can and gradually reorient my career toward dike and levy building, because the western economy will soon be as saturated as its coastlines and there ain't anything I can do about it.