Endemic
Why Civilization Is Protracted Violence
--
Every era casts illness in its own image. Society, like the ultimate psychosomatic patient, matches its medical afflictions to its psychological crises; when a disease touches such a visceral chord, it is often because that chord is already resonating — Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies
Red Queen to Alice: My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that — Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Think about one big issue that humanity has solved completely. I mean eradicated off the face of the earth. Polio is one condition we have succeeded at taming. However, maladies evolve with the evolving human condition. Graver illnesses particularly illnesses of the human mind take over. The truth is every human action, much like Newton’s third law, has an equal and opposite reaction. Technology widens inequality and creates a different set of problems. This article looks at the cyclical nature of the physical world and uses it to describe the state of the world today.
The human race is the most powerful species on the planet. It has created tools that have exponential capabilities. The biggest hurdle to our survival is our own mindset i.e. the way in which these capabilities are employed. Use them for good and the human race survives. If we presume a prisoner’s dilemma, we guarantee mutually assured destruction.
The Effects Linger On
It’s been a decade since the financial crisis of 2008 led to the demise of Lehman Brothers and a long running test of the resilience of the worlds financial system. The most profound aftermath of the financial crisis is a post traumatic stress to our mindset. Today, we are busy predicting when and how the next financial crisis will come into being. Thus, recovery contains the seeds of the next conflict. The Standard and Poor (S&P) 500 is trading at a price to…
