What will be the effect of the crash in the US economy?
By sharra1
@sharra1 (6340)
Australia
September 18, 2008 9:38pm CST
Science fiction writers have predicted urban warfare for years. It always came out of a serious depression that started with a collapse or partial collapse of capitalism. A depression caused by companies sacking staff to make more profits for shareholders, fewer people in work and a huge divide between those that had money and everyone else. Unlike the great depression of the 1930's though in the urban warfare world the poor were armed and dangerous. It is a scary thought.
With the disaster that is happening in the US economy right now I wonder if we are heading down that path. Already we are seeing companies sack workers to increase profits and I mean companies that are not in trouble and should not need to sack anyone. There is a huge gap between what those at the top are paid and the ordinary worker. Banks that survived the great depression of the 1930's are crashing.
Are we seeing the collapse of capitalism?
1 response
@grandpa_lash (5225)
• Australia
19 Sep 08
Critics the constant growth imperative of modern capitalism, ranging from economists to anthropologuists and socialists, to historians, have all pointed out that infinite growth in a finite world is impossible, and that sooner or later the whole flimsy pack of cards must collapse.
The development of those entirely opaque instruments called 'derivatives', which are the ultimate in computer-generated funny money, has hastened the collapse, and it seems more than possible the the current crisis may outdo the Great Depression, and indeed see the collapse of economic rationalism and neo-liberal economics.
In the long run I expect we will develop some form of co-operatiuve, steady state economics (see Herman Daly, for example), and maybe even accept the wisdom of decentralisation and bioregionalism, but there will be a lot of pain along the way. The only consolation for most of us will be that the greedy, morally bankrupt creeps who have created the monster will go down with us.
Lash
