Potential Richness

Dear Readers:

Madame is unable to post this week, so I get to continue my response earlier than I thought!

I do not know if the next generation(s) WILL significantly positively impact the future.   But they have strong potential to do so, although perhaps not for the reasons many suppose.   The next generations do not (at least yet, thankfully) have the immediate catastrophic propellants to great action and change which have historically been the usual prerequisites, but perhaps they do not need them.  We will see!

Gradually, although perhaps not deeply yet, the established societies’ economic systems operated by everyday people appear to be becoming more distributive and more democratic.  Maybe this will even extend to renewable energy and other sustainable things.  Already there are growing signs among these next generations that they both do, and will, stress much more a sort of collaborative commons, and that perhaps cooperatives will become an everyday given. 

These generations have either seen or experienced the dramatic shortcomings and sufferings under the present plutocratic-oligarchic dominated form of capitalism.  Not only do they appear to not like it, but they are alienated from it.  Sure, they like its possibilities for tech advancement, but the list of what to like about it after that gets rather short.  They are far more into living satisfying lives not as connected to sheer creature comforts (outside of technology!) as before.  Much of what they do, as you showed previously in a post which I presently can’t locate (argh!), is done first not with trying to obtain remunerative gain, but because it works and they like to share it. 

The devotees of classic capitalism are searching for a way to successfully integrate that.  Allowing short-term monopolies are one idea, but really, it may come to pass that eventually classic capitalism will become only a niche player in a largely collaborative society that redefines even classic democratic-socialism.

Because, more and more, classic capitalism doesn’t fit the new sharing/cooperative environment of public-use applications, etc., or even the internet in general.  Nor does it very much serve the common good, especially the common good communicative/information infrastructure.

Jeremy Rifkin, in his book, The Zero-Marginal Cost Society, talks about the increasing number of societal things with zero or near zero margin cost.  The vast majority of people may soon (and some already are) acquire the ability to produce their own info, energy, goods, and services.

The transformation of classic capitalism may be the next great change in human evolutionary progress.  Time will tell.  There is much potential at the same time that there is much danger.  There is a lot on the next generations to sidestep, deal with, and/or transform.  They also have a lot of tools and dispositions to have the ability to do so.

Fascinating times of promise and peril!