by Ramin Mazaheri for The Saker blog
I’m only three years from being a Millennial myself but, wow! They sure have had a much rougher go of it:
Most of them were teenagers when the “victory” of the “leader of the free world” came crashing down on 9/11. Jingoistic hysteria against (fictitious, always Pentagon-supported) Islamic radicalism was followed by the Great Recession. The alleged “economic recovery” was always limited to the 1%, and now we have the coronavirus panic. Ever since 2008, when my elders start to decry the alleged character flaws of the Millennial generation I always point out how they were handed so many handicaps.
“The only Millennials with a decent job and no debt were those selected in the first round of the NBA draft,” is my usual attempt at pithiness. It’s surprising that the phrase “Ok, boomer” took so long to develop, frankly?
So what’s going to happen to this beleaguered bunch post-corona? It seems like even more burdens will be heaped on them, and I can think of five important ones:
First, there will be no growth-rebuilding “corona reconstruction” because infrastructure is not destroyed in a pandemic. When the corona craziness dies down the neoliberals in the US and the austerity-evangelicals in the Eurozone are going to be just as resistant to taxing the rich in order to give useful jobs to the poor as they have been for the past four decades.
Second, there are many fearful Mainstream Media articles detailing how after the Black Plague workers in Europe were emboldened to demand more wages and rights. This is merely an interesting historical vignette – there are no mass deaths in 2020. Therefore, once the corona hysteria ends you will have a flood of workers competing with each other for jobs. In a parallel, compounding development, good jobs will also be even more scarce than in 2008 (although maybe the NBA will expand?) because the corona overreaction is creating such enormous economic devastation with mass bankruptcies, closures and reduced government tax revenue sure to result. Due to a lack of socialist controls and planning, the law of supply and demand will rule unfettered – wages are sure to drop.
Third, the very sectors where Millennials can be most often found – restaurants, retail, tourism, hospitality and creative – will be the most decimated by corona lockdowns. What’s more, this age group has – necessarily – the least seniority, experience and skills and thus they will be the first to be fired in every sector. Labor participation rate for Millennials had only just returned to pre-2008 levels, but – as I stressed to my often-dismissive elders – levels “returned” only via terrible part-time jobs, gig economy work and short-term contracts in Europe. How long will it take to return to (these fundamentally inferior) pre-2020 levels?
Fourth, in these lousy, poorly-paid pieces of under-employment “benefits” like health care, pension contributions and unemployment insurance were often non-existent. The US bailouts have thrown them some unemployment insurance for a few months, but will it be enough? Not to pay the overhead for the moderate-to-successful Millennial classes – that is absolutely certain. Dirt-poor Millennials will, at best, not stop being dirt-poor, and certainly will return after these modest “bailouts” quickly finish. Millennials were already worse off in every major economic indicator compared to their Generation X, Baby Boomer and Silent Generation counterparts.
Fifth, if you thought Millennials were too sensitive before, then imagine how they will be after the corona trauma? There is no “victory” to be had here for the survivors – all they did was cower at home, sometimes snitch on their neighbors, and often couldn’t even risk trying to volunteer to help the elderly and vulnerable. This is going to create guilt and shame personally, mistrust and resentment socially, and a desire to save, hoard and not take risks economically.
And, please note, this is the bad situation for the White youth class in the West – imagine being non-White, or Muslim, or (gasp!) both non-White and Muslim?
To summarise briefly, the same logic will hold true for individuals as for businesses: anyone without savings or stable access to credit NOW is about to be dragged under. Millennials have the least amount of savings, social credit or economic credit.
So what is to be done?
There is a lot of fear among the corporate MSM, conservatives and corporate neo-fascists that the economic downturn caused by the corona lockdown will cause the Millennials and younger to embrace socialism.
To this I respond: Well, it would be about time.
A hugely common Western misconception during the 1950s and 60s was that the youth class would carry the day and float the elderly off on icebergs to the North Pole. We now know much more about modern Western capitalism: this was undoubtedly misguided, because in the West it is the elder classes which dominate the economic assets and political power, and are just as weighty arbiters of cultural power.
As I have repeatedly discussed, only in China and Iran did the upheavals of the 1960s translate into actual political and economic power for the youth class, and thanks to (the world’s only two) state-sponsored Cultural Revolutions. Contrarily, in the West their victory was limited to the pop culture sphere – their Cultural Revolution was repressed and halted, yes, because the real failure lay within the populace: they simply weren’t real, class-warfare, anti-imperialist leftists, apparently.
Maybe this will change now?
However, (truly) fake-leftist Bernie Sanders just bowed out (hilarious timing from a reliable Democratic Party toady); Jeremy Corbyn’s (fake-leftist) anti-Brexit stance failed (of course) and his replacement is far more conservative; France’s (fake-)left wants four things: wine, pornography, no religion whatsoever and to smash the superb Yellow Vest movement’s call for a French Cultural Revolution by any means necessary.
So what is to be done?
The political nihilists – who are stupid, wrong, lazy and cowardly – insist that leftism has failed everywhere in 2020, but there are a dozen or so examples which prove them wrong (simply look to the countries the US organises Western sanctions against). The West, being evangelical, chauvinistic and used to leading for two centuries, ignores and/or denigrates all of these examples.
Now one thing I always try to do is to shoot myself in the foot – as far as getting my articles rebroadcast, retweeted and the like – by praising Iran when deserved. I mean, what surer way is there today to terrify fake-leftist, rabidly-secularist Anglophones and Westerners than to stick up for not just Iran but also (and I’m not sure which is worse to them) Islamic Socialism?
But I feel compelled to point out that the corona-situation of Iranian Millennials (i.e. their youth class) is not anywhere as dire as for their Western counterparts, and I need only one reason to prove why: most of them live at home until they are married or around 30.
Iranian young adults who aren’t working now – at least they aren’t racking up rent/mortgage debt, eh?
What’s more: there are no Western credit card companies in Iran due to the Western blockade, and formal interest rates are constrained by the morals of Islamic finance, so what credit card debt? University eduction is widespread and cheap, so what university debt? The medical system is the best in the region and, while absolute poverty has not been totally eradicated anywhere, it is undoubtedly within the reach of Iran’s lower class, so what medical debt? Europeans usually enjoy the latter two realities, at least, so you can’t say I am talking about impossibilities. Corona quarantines are hardest on the lower class everywhere, but Iran is a socialist-inspired society so political policy actually addresses their needs first and has done so since 1979.
Unlike Europeans (especially Anglo-Saxons), Iran’s entire (allegedly) “failed to launch” youth class also have far more emotional support than in atomised Western households. This is not a small thing for some people during the corona crisis, but also post-corona.
However Iran is not the only example of success amid the post-1980 neoliberal era: it’s grounds for calls of “traitor” in the US, but is not Russia’s amazing rebound after the tragedy of the USSR’s implosion not worthy of interest? How did they do that? They are a socialist-inspired culture to some degree, but what about the continent of China and tiny Cuba as well? The point here is: the primary obstacle Millennials have to overcome are lifetimes of Gen X, Boomer and Silent Generation TINA (There Is No Alternative (to neoliberalism)) to realise that socialism is an actual, still-viable, never-going-away source of solutions.
Without openly promoting socialism all the complaints and public disavowals of Western imperialism-capitalism ultimately reach a dead end, after all. Millennials need to learn that class warfare exists, but in the West only the 1% is cognisant of this reality.
Unfortunately, to see how wide the political-intellectual gap is simply consider: US imperialism more dangerous than coronavirus for international community: Iran president. What other national leaders would say such thing in 2020?
How many actually did say it in 1918 amid the Spanish Flu pandemic? In 2020 you would be crucified for saying that – despite its obvious accuracy – and certainly not retweeted.
But Western Millennials are free to ignore existing examples, and also to go on hating God, Mom, Dad, socialism, central planning, strong social safety nets, all governments etc.; they are perfectly free to stay focused on the current corona “War on Dying” and to not immediately demand socialist-inspired policies for a youth class which keeps being forced to bear the domestic brunt of Western neoliberalism and (never even broached domestic) neo-imperialism.
They’re still young – maybe they’ll get drafted by the NBA?
***********************************
Corona contrarianism? How about some corona common sense? Here is my list of articles published regarding the corona crisis, and I hope you will find them useful in your leftist struggle!
Capitalist-imperialist West stays home over corona – they grew a conscience? – March 22, 2020
Corona meds in every pot & a People’s QE: the Trumpian populism they hoped for? – March 23, 2020
A day’s diary from a US CEO during the Corona crisis (satire) March 23, 2020
MSNBC: Chicago price gouging up 9,000% & the sports-journalization of US media – March 25, 2020
Tough times need vanguard parties – are ‘social media users’ the West’s? – March 26, 2020
If Germany rejects Corona bonds they must quit the Eurozone – March 30, 2020
Landlord class: Waive or donate rent-profits now or fear the Cultural Revolution – March 31, 2020
Corona repeating 9/11 & Y2K hysterias? Both saw huge economic overreactions – April 1, 2020
(A Soviet?) Superman: Red Son – the new socialist film to watch on lockdown – April 2, 2020
Corona rewrites capitalist bust-chronology & proves: It’s the nation-state, stupid – April 3, 2020
Condensing the data leaves no doubt: Fear corona-economy more than the virus – April 5, 2020
‘We’re Going Wrong’: The West’s middling, middle-class corona response – April 10, 2020
Why does the UK have an ‘army’ of volunteers but the US has a shortage? – April 12, 2020
No buybacks allowed or dared? Then wave goodbye to Western stock market gains – April 13, 2020 – April 13, 2020
Ramin Mazaheri is the chief correspondent in Paris for Press TV and has lived in France since 2009. He has been a daily newspaper reporter in the US, and has reported from Iran, Cuba, Egypt, Tunisia, South Korea and elsewhere. He is the author of the books ‘I’ll Ruin Everything You Are: Ending Western Propaganda on Red China’ and the upcoming ‘Socialism’s Ignored Success: Iranian Islamic Socialism’.
Forgive me, my friend (and, I do at least hope that we can call one another friends, despite our obvious differences), but I am compelled to share an observation about the unfolding of the idea of socialism through the recent history of our world.
What I have seen is that true, authentic, and honest socialism and its faithful application by a living society is very much successful, and to the good.
However, during its early periods of manifestation in human society, in our world, it was almost immediately hijacked and twisted to, well… ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ style oppression (in the most abberant examples).
This is what the honest living human beings in the west fear about socialism, and communism.
Thank You for sharing your excellent work with us.
Joshua; You speak honestly from a western view and there is truth in what you say. To a degree at least. However so much of whatever truth there is in that fear driven judgement is the responsibility of the consistent attacks on socialism carried out by its capitalist enemies. Asking world socialism to be pure and clean at this point is like expecting a baby that has been consistently battered and abused from birth to be free of negative personality characteristics. And equally to the point the degree of those deformities is massively exaggerated by capitalist lies. Beating a baby and then condemning it for crying and having a tantrum or two is a sure fire way to make it unpopular. The need is to love and heal this sweet baby girl, for she holds the hope of humanity within her still growing breast.
Well, yes. What you say is true. The corruptors immediately become enemies if, and when, their corruptions fail.
Every time so far.
Also, in all honesty, given the ‘talent pool’ of western leadership…
I cannot say that I blame them.
In frankness, we are keeping what we still have by the last hair on our, hehe, nose…
We are inherently distrustful of any and all of their bright ideas.
You’ve got a big problem if you want to believe the country is ready to deploy socialism successfully any time soon.
It could work, but first you have to implement the laws of nature and apply that to the education system,( we are a long ways from that), then wait about 30 years so the health effects and efficiency of lowering the cost of living is manageable.
The system right now takes too much off the top to feed its inefficiencies and that leaves very little for the remaining citizens.
We made too many mistakes to long ago to turn this ship of corruption around, it was wishful thinking, but that’s all it is.
Direct, and perhaps subtle, adjustments in focus and execution of objectives (being that they are honest and true) can be very effective at this point, if my belief is correct.
You know sortta like how Bernie went, ” Great line, great speech, great crowd, blah blah blah, endorse Biden”… Etc…
Stay with it Ramin. As always your informed heart is irrepressible. Your words remind me of a rare line of insightful dialogue I encountered in a British espionage movie back during the cold war. The setting was the British and the Americans coordinating the control of Germany after 1945. The movie had a British middle level officer saying the following “the real problem is the Americans. They are ignorant and refuse to be told.” Combining ignorance with the desperate need to not learn is a national sickness in America. I see you as confronting it.
I have to struggle with why Americans, being ignorant, refuse to learn. The best answer I can come up with is that their lizard brains, being more powerful than their conscious minds, tell them “the primary need is to survive, hence I must fit into the norm.” Their lizard brains feel with solid knowing that if they deviate from the national mass line they will be socially ostracized and die. This is a very real problem if one has a family to support. Hence honest intelligence is a threat to survival. Accordingly their intellectual output is, necessarily, saturated with manipulative self contradiction. The severity of mass denial here is formidably intense and the average American is far too psychologically weak to be able to see through it or face it.
So one is left with moral accommodation as the price of survival. Just ask Whoopi Goldberg, the prostitute on The View. And Bernie for that matter.
But like the Saker says; The best planner is God
You bring up a valuable point, and a pressing issue for those of us who prefer to survive in our current realities. However, something must certainly change for the better, and that soon.
“I have to struggle with why Americans, being ignorant, refuse to learn. The best answer I can come up with is that their lizard brains, being more powerful than their conscious minds, tell them “the primary need is to survive, hence I must fit into the norm.” Their lizard brains feel with solid knowing that if they deviate from the national mass line they will be socially ostracized and die. This is a very real problem if one has a family to support. Hence honest intelligence is a threat to survival. Accordingly their intellectual output is, necessarily, saturated with manipulative self contradiction. The severity of mass denial here is formidably intense and the average American is far too psychologically weak to be able to see through it or face it.”
Americans refuse to learn because America is a fundamentalist nation that fanatically believes in its own moral righteous as the Land of the Free and Beacon of Liberty in every situation and for every hot-button issue that comes up.
This American fundamentalist mentality is the basis of the United Snakes as a nation and people. This sick mentality is possessed by most of the Anglosphere and West in general, as well as their vassal states.
In short, America is a Crusader Empire.
Citizens of this American Empire DO NOT want to face the reality that they are not God’s “chosen nation”–but more likely are the very opposite.
Americans love to run their mouths about how they are a nation of free thinking “rugged individualists” when in fact they are a nation of well-trained drones, who instinctively parrot whatever propaganda is pushed by their Free Press like:
-Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.
-Muammar Gaddafi and his “Viagra rape troops” in Libya.
-Iran is secretly building a nuclear weapon.
-American/Western-backed moderate jihadists and (false flag) chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
-America regime change operations dressed up as Pro-Democracy movements against Bolivia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, or China (Hong Kong).
-Russia is hacking American elections.
-Russia poisoned the Skripals in the United Kingdom. It is “highly likely.”
-The phony War on Terrorism and the 9-11 Reichstag Fire.
-And now, the COVID-19 pandemic and associated American psyops to justify a “reset” of its Ponzi Scheme economy; the expansion of the American high-tech police state; and hybrid war campaigns against China, Iran, or Venezuela.
The list of America’s conga line of propaganda/psyops campaigns is endless.
The American “Beacon of Liberty” = A Beacon of Lies.
Ramin is such a wonderful writer. He is very hard working person to say the least.
I really enjoy all his writings other than About Mao of China ( who has killed all the intellectuals of his time. The filthy pig even abused young girls and the bastard din’t even have clean hygiene rotten teeth etc. Seems like all dictators are pigs.
Please feel encouraged to share your deep knowledge about Mao’s China aside from ad hominem attacks.
I love this man’s thinking!
Some very disturbing things are beginning to emerge from this bug and our ability, or inability, to defend against it.
It seems that in order to turn a quick health care buck, the system was relying on like a rent a nurse, from temp agency’s, that would scurry over to a hot spot on short notice, apparently this was rather prevalent in the industry to keep costs low and care at a maximum when needed. Well, apparently some of these rent a nurses had caught the virus and were/are, spreading it to the nursing home employees at which they would quickly flip their services. Talk about efficiency at finding a way to quickly spread the bug.
In addition, some large meat processing plant workers are now doing the same thing to their environment and threatening the work force of the food industry. Now should this situation get a hold of a place or two soon, you could be looking at serious food shortages from a lack of workers to process these foods, putting a strain not only on the industry’s involved, but the supply and demand would quickly raise prices and create shortages at a time when we can least afford it.
Isn’t this Grade A disaster still a wonderful thing now? And just think about it, it has yet to fully run its course and shows no signs of abating any time soon. And people want to run around and say there’s nothing to worry about because their situation is all honky dory.
Yeah, sortta like ‘crisis actors’.
At least, the theory could stand up to the ‘previosly proven behavioral patterns’ of certain individuals, and groups, who do not necessarily have ‘the highest of ethics’ test.
You mean like career politicians? People who could make a difference, yet for some reason always choose to side with their like minded, so called professionals.
I have to agree, Alabama. All these people talking about how we’re going to get a V-shaped recovery by the end of the year are delusional. The IMF themselves aka the International Monetary Fund, which is the head of the international banking syndicate criminal banker gangs, said themselves they believe we are getting a new Great Depression to rival the one of the 1930’s out of this. I mean, this straight from the mouth of one of the most powerful and evil organizations to have ever existed. Seems even the satan worshippers know whats coming next and are warning us.
I believe it’s a good thing people are getting pushed out of their comfort zone. Maybe the braindead brainwashed American population will finally wake up because of this and start questioning the efficacy of their society and how their leaders have failed them completely. One can hope. It’s the only possible silver lining that could arise out of this situation.
The IMF is not the head of the global banking cartel – just another branch of it. It’s basically the drug dealer to enforce debt peonage on emerging economies after they’ve been neoliberalized by the Washington Consensus.
The real Kingpin in the Kingdom of Crime is the BIS’ Financial Stability Board (FSB). It’s the executer of globalist financial & banking guidelines and watchman of compliance.
You may want to check out John Titus who has done lots of great work on his neatly little Youtube channel, especially on how the Global Banking Cartel has managed to bring off an institutional coup for bankers to not be jailed for their hideous crimes.
Ramin, whether they push for socialism or not, the USA is due for a long depression/collapse. Socialism alone will not rebuild the industrial base. It will probably create a Jubilee and socialize health care, all good things, but that alone will not revive the economy. Today’s supply chains are incredibly complicated and new players have real trouble getting in. They need someone with integrity and dictatorial powers but both conditions are impossible. They will get Biden instead.
As a western boomer, what you are saying makes total sense to me. In the responses to the ” pandemic”, I’m increasingly seeing more corporate manouvering to take maximum advantage of the chaos and shutdown of parliaments to bleed even more from the roiling masses than ever before.
Yet any mention of ‘socialism’ amongst most young still brings outcries of Stalin’s purges, labour camps, etc. The MSM have done their job well in the west amongst the mainstream population
All very worthwhile and heartfelt comments in the main. But let us all keep in mind that this is all a process inside evolution. And evolution has been a success story for 4 billion years. It is just “getting its hard on” so to speak, and has been preparing for this crisis for a longer time than we are aware. Preparing from within a universal love field. As the Saker says “God is the supreme planner.” Let us not overlook this core reality. We know for a fact that evolution has a pattern of creating a need within a crisis and then rising from within itself to meet that need. This is a scientifically known pattern within evolution. The fact that we don’t see the whole story at this juncture does not invalidate the process. Remember that history shows us that great revolutions include a great fear that works on the bowels of the masses. Such processes are organized from within a greater organic depth than our minds are conditioned to recognize. Or to put the point more simply, let us open to the fact that what is needed is a revolution inside socialism. A revolution that makes socialism irresistible to humanity. So many here are wisely sensing that only a “digestible” socialism can save us. Do you doubt the Creator sees this and is capable of designing a revolution inside socialism? The master planner is known for both love and reliability.
@ Or to put the point more simply,
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Have your god revolutionize that, the master planner will be lost in space and time.
“… history shows us that great revolutions include a great fear that works on the bowels of the masses.” Indeed. This time, it will be literally, as hunger starts to happen everywhere.
Actually fewer mass deaths this year, over the whole of Europe. Deaths in England and Wales, Source: Office of National Statistics(ONS). Cumulative Up to April 3rd
2016: 156041 Round figures 4% below average
2017: 163698 1% above
2018: 175419 7% above
2019: 156144 3% below
2020: 166444 2% above
Average: 162826
The Black Death it ain’t. So why this panic and total Lockdown in the Capitalist West?
Ramin: “there are no mass deaths in 2020. Therefore, once the corona hysteria ends you will have a flood of workers competing with each other for jobs…., good jobs will also be even more scarce because the corona overreaction is creating … economic devastation with mass bankruptcies, closures and reduced government tax revenue sure to result. Due to a lack of socialist controls and planning, the law of supply and demand will rule unfettered – wages are sure to drop.”
Anglo Zio Capitalists of rub their hands in gleeful anticipation.
I have little sympathy for Millennials because they complain endlessly about government being the problem and then sit on their tailbones and demand the government fix the problem. They complain about being poor and demand that government give them more money. Again, if government is the problem, why do they want the maximum amount of government in their lives by adopting socialism? Their mantra is that everybody caused their problem except them and that everybody has to solve their problems except them.
Living near to the Arizona desert ; life’s most important lesson is easy to understand if one is observant. The struggles of all living things , insects, birds, snakes,lizards, plants and various wild mammals is never-ending. There is beauty in their existence; as well as never ending challenges. A primary fact about life is ” Life is really Cruel”. To top off this truism about things ; Man has the additional ability to act contrary to his biological imperatives. Simply put ; man has the innate ability to really screw things up by communicating many Un Natural ways to conduct his affairs. A Political class, a Priestly class, Military class , an aberrant sexual class, and most of all…a Utopian ideal that can be communicated and accepted by other men. Mr. Mazahri seems to be advocating the latter. The current Worldwide Situation will not end well….just like so many previous situations regarding Mankind. Accept the fate that is the result of man’s flaws. Socialism ? Sure Mr. Mazahri…..This time it will be different.
@ f reps
One of the wisest comments I’ve seen here. Man’s desire to escape nature into worlds of his own making is the most peculiar thing about our species. It takes many forms–Christianity, Communism, Corporate Capitalism, virtual reality, TV, social media, etc–but it’s all part of the same infinite capacity for self-delusion. Socialism is just another control system for civilization, which has shown that it can be as oppressive as any other when implemented on a large scale. The only “natural” form of human society is the one we lived in for 99+% of our time on this planet: small-scale, technologically primitive, sovereign tribes. Everything else is an unnatural, self-imposed prison and madhouse. The issue isn’t capitalism or socialism, it’s industrial civilization and all the pathologies it creates for a species that is naturally anarcho-primitivist, collectivist and tribal. I don’t see any solution to this problem except the global collapse of civilization, which I do think will happen eventually, but probably not any time soon.
Absolutely loved the article! Thanks!
Che Guevara wrote about the dangers of the socialist economies, to sum it up he thought that the population would not have the right to think about the issues of their system because the political bureau would believe they have the right to think for them. If you don’t mind the Spanish language you can read an interesting article about it here:
https://rebelion.org/la-critica-del-che-a-la-economia-politica-sovietica/
I enjoyed this article very much. It touched on a number of issues I’ve gone through myself.
Being a late Gen X’er I’ve gone through the boom/bust cycles of 2000 and 2008. I know what it’s like to struggle to get ahead, by being laid off from work because I was young, new to the workforce, and low on the totem pole. In some ways I learned some valuable lessons from this, mostly to stay out of debt and live within my means.
I also learned to never assume I am secure in anything. Life will always intervene in the good times, and setbacks are waiting to drop in out of the blue.
The last few years have been especially hard, though. Living in Alberta ,Canada, our economy is mostly reliant on oil and gas. The price drop in 2014 hit us like a ton of bricks. There were mass layoff starting in 2015, and bankruptcies have been ongoing ever since.
This shutdown of the economy by our governments will break what little was left of it. While I don’t want to wish suffering on anyone, at least I have some company. I don’t have to be going through this misery alone any longer.
I feel sorry for the very young people. I don’t have children, but have nephews aged 14 and 12. Their future looks far worse than mine when I was young.
I dont see why would socialism be better then say the system we have. All centralised systems have the same issue. It attracts sociopaths and psychopaths to power the same way it does in capitalism, theocracies, monarchies and communism. Centralised systems have the same weakness, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The cycle of history has shown this very well as far my amateur (economic) historic research has shown.
I am afraid human nature will never change and we will be trapped in an cycle roughly like this. People have rebuild somewhat of an economy after the system has (usually very violent) reset. This with their own norms and values. Almost always very localised and self sufficient, all is based on earned trust andif you break that intentionally, you be an outcast at the very least in that community. Trade with people outside of the comminity is very limited. Then comes the 2nd phase, the trade is expanding and wealth is expanding. Leading people to see life as good and starting to trust the leaders more and less (social) control is placed on them. This is the first phase of the rot happing since now sociopaths and psychopaths have their first chances to start doing stuff that actually hurts the people but the benefits far outweigth the bad stuff, people getting fat and lazier.
Once phase three starts, basically when I joined the labour force around late 1990 era. Sociopaths and psychopaths now have firm control over the way extended economy works. Crazy rules bennefitting the few at the expense of the many. The living standards of ordinary people stagnate and dont improve while the rich get extraordinary richer. Then comes the trigger, the decline in living standards of the normal people starts to decline and the rich and powerfull (sociopaths and psychopaths) do everything to keep expanding their wealth and power. That is us in the west and I think also China and yes, also Iran but not informed enough about their systems now to say that for sure.
The truely ugly phase is coming up next. Collapse of the system. Since by now ruled by the truely evil ones not willing to give up their power and wealth and want still more, the population faces the question at large. Will I accept to be killed by them power hungery sickos or try something else. Basically socialist paradise Venezuela is there now. Please, I know the sanctions did hurt them but their econmic model was so bad it makes even Zimbabwe being run well. Eventually they rise up and overthrow the current regime. Usually followed by and even more despotic regime afterwards. That will also be overthrown. Then another wave of misery and then back to very decentralised systems since so many were killed during the process.
As far as I found, it does not matter what centralised system is in place, capitalism, socialism. communism or whatever. The only means to have a free life is to keep as decentalised as possible. This is the only way to keep the power hungy at bay including the very irrisponsible ones as well.
An example of this is the grasshopper and the ant story. Here in Holland we had a decade of austerity to prepare for whatever disaster will happen. Our government debt was under 50%. Other governments were elected to spend even more, like Italy or Spain. They have no buffer now and we already bailed them out during the Euro crisis. Now we are blamed to not bail them out again and pay their debts again. Sorry, cannot afford that grasshopper. A joke here (not yet trending) is, well, let the government borrow as much as possible asap to reach Greek or Italian government debt limits. Then we give the population all that money and because of the state now being bankrupt we even get free money on top of that! Wheeeee! The Magic Money Tree (MMT) exists. After all, no need to produce goods and services in a productive way. As most tend to think now.
All the kidding aside, a government, major corporations nor theocracy will never know how to allocate goods and services in a way people want and need. All they care about is themself. Otherwise they would not have gotten to that position. One of the rare exeptions is mr Putin. But that will end when he is gone. Then Russia will probably go back to a pillage and plunder regime so many (in power) there want there. Just as all the people in the rest of the world in power or want to be in power. The people running them systems only care about one thing, their power and wealth. So my suggestion is to all people (not only millenials) is to become resilent as much as possible. Be your own central bank, be your own food provider and so on. Yes, it will be hard but way less hard when you do not do so.
Historical example of France during the last phases. John Locke with his Missisippi bubble while running the French empire bursted (we now). Money was printed in extremis. The queen famously said when confronted with the starving masses because of hyperinflation and not allowed to protected themselfs, punishable by death, when told the bread was not there. Let them eat cake instead. Robberts Pierre came as the salvation for them to only start the reign of terror as it is called. Exterminating all people he saw as a potential threat. Ironically his head was the last one to be chopped of by the guilotine. Only to be succeeded by Napoleon.
And yes. I chosen France since a neutral example. It can be less brutal as the collapse of the USSR proved but…..
If you choose collectivism as a solution as mr Mazaheri suggests, be prepaired for what I written. As historians joke. If society does not learn from the past (and we only have 6000 years of it) you are doomed to repeat it in rhymes. As historians we know we dont learn as a society thus we are forced to observe to see it happen.
If you believe in a centralised system. How much of your wealth are you willing to give away? Why didnt you do so already? What do you want to take from others that earned it themselfs? Why dont you want to voluntary provide value and exchange it on a voluntary basis as humans did most of the time in their history? You really think a politician, king or mullah (or whatever) will have your best interest in heart? (I dont). Now let me end this rant with this last note. Yes, I think humans are very compassionable and act on it. But way more so when there is decentralised system in place. After all, any centralised system strips away that option you have.
If you read this far, thank you. Reminder, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If you are looking for a knight on a white horse to save you. Sorry, wont happen. Never did and never will.
Regards,
Hugo
Hugo; You have your clever theories and they are ever so “Western” – I suggest that you would serve yourself by being open to understanding the reason for the higher happiness level in Cuba, China, Russia and Iran. These are examples of genuine socialist democratic successes that give every appearance of somehow – unaccountably – avoiding the deadly disaster you seem to be so confident must befall them. One needs to examine the success of other countries before expounding the certitude of one’s theories. According to you it seems there is no hope.
Ah the perils of entrapment in bourgeois western egoism. Us communists have a principle – seek truth from facts. Examine the facts of the success of these countries. They belie your theories, at least to a sufficient degree.
Hello Snow Leopard,
Thank you for reading my reply. Sadly it seems you seem to have not gotten it. So please, let me elaborate. As I said in my reply I dont truely know how the Iranian and Chinese system works. But here we go (smile) with my limited understanding of the world. Btw, if you ever meet someone who claims that (s)he knows how it works, run I say (smile). All I offer is my limited understanding.
What is amazing to me is that you call Russia and Cuba a ”genuine socialist democratic success”. The so called gini coefficient is a good indicator of how a countries wealth is spread across the population. The US and Russia and also Cuba can be clearly seen as about as unequal in their wealth spread. . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient. many more indicators can be used but really, Russian, American and Cuban elites all recieve the same, absurd in my mind, share of the wealth a country produces. You really should celebrate EU socialism on that metric. Something I dont since the EU and the countries are nothing close to that. But to say Cuba and Russia are socialist is cognitive dissonance I think. On metrics they are even worse.
In that link I posted you can see China is doing well and no argument there, they lifted so many people out of poverty. Roughly 700 million. But that was NOT because of socialism or communism. That was done through very, very hard working people there for decades. But I hope you know that the Chinese have roughly 3 trillion! Yes with a T in reserves. Do you know how a state / central bank can amass such amounts of money? Surely not socialist let alone communist. Pay your workers way less then what they otherwise would earn in a free market and pocket the difference. So yeah, that socialist / communist party stole 3 trillion from what workers would have earned otherwise. Playing the forex markets will do so and ofcourse was sanctioned by the west, free stuff, whee!
That is evil, both from the West AND China in this example. Hence my call for decentralisation. When you place your life, happyness and so on in hands of others, you will end up as collateral damage. That is why gold is such a good idea.
Now that 3/4ths of your examples as role models gone in a logical argumented way will you consider taking control of your own life and not trusting the system for a bit? Care to answer the questions I posted in my previous post btw?
To adress the other point you made on the no hope part. Ofcourse there is hope, there always is. Humans have a tendency to survive as a spiecies no matter what. Ok, huge astroid impact could end it but that seems silly to plan for since wont matter.
What you have to decide about is if you want to have what I call ”overlords”’ controlling you and deciding what you can and cannot do during this system collapse and after that event. Reminder, the currency system we have is exponential and when the designer of this system was asked questions about it he replied ”in the long run we are all dead” knowing full well that it would collapse. Exponential systems always do, good news corona wise that way (smile). The currency system we have will collapse because it is exponential.
All people with real power know that. Your choice is. Knowing full well that it allows the Yeltsins or more recent, Maduro gets a wild super rich life while the population starves or be the change you want to see? I do want to see a world based on what people produce (goods and serives) on an equal playing field and in way they are happy with.
What I do not want is a world where power hungly sociopaths and pshychopaths running the show. Even though at our current system has some dissidents, mr Putin is the statesman of this centrury for sure, I fear the collectivsts no matter if socialist, communist, capitalist, kingdom based orwhatever systems ruling me even more.
I rather go back to a more simple life, the way I grew up in. Way less materialistic, way more pragmatic and way more freedom loving. I am sick and tired of people forcing me to give up so much what I produce and do with it what they want. Fuck that. excuse my French (smile). Here in socialist Holland (way more then Russia or Cuba) I have to pay for war crimes my country on Syria for example.
I hope I given your food for thought and you dont think there is a knight that will be riding to your salvation, sorry, wont happen. All in power care about one thing. POWER. oh and wealth. Tip to watch, hourse of cards, shows it very well.
One thing as always the last few centuries, the Westerners, as in individuals, are the first ones to collectively understood how they gotten fucked by their collective system, no matter what it was, capitalism, socialism, communism whatever. If you want to be guided by power hunger and to a lesser degree wealth group, feel free. Dont whine if you are collateral damage for the so called collective good. After all, even when the sytem crashes, they make sure they live very well. Not western based, global elite based behavior. Study history, learn!
Regards,
Hugo
Up to some point I agree with Ramin.
Humans seem not to learn and fault lines are practically always almost the same throughout history.
Despite the fact that we have in our surrounding nature enough examples how it could work.
Ants, bees, bacteria, etc. These live for millions of years on our earth.
How they form their communities is extremely interesting and how it functions too.
How bacteria are communicating, how they act together. Same with ants etc.
Its togetherness, feeling of belonging as well as taking responsibility for its own actions while taking into consideration the impact on others.
The preached “individualism” of Western countries comprises its downfall. Envying other states, groups etc. as well as hate and with it comes hunger for power doesn’t provide a homogenous population. It creates too many “fault lines” in a society.
USA population had been brainwashed for – I think – approx. hundred years (maybe even longer) to believe that Socialism/Communism is bad. And – as I could observe – far too many people don’t bother to inform themselves. Why should they ? Everything is served on a silver plate by mainstream media functioning as mantras. Hollywood showing movies with superman/-woman (usually somehow related to USA) as saviors of our earth/or other people etc. Such kind of influence massages the hearts of masses while being told USA is an indispensable state to whom they belong.
So why should they use their brain ?
Socialism is the only way forward but not just one Socialism but rather hundreds of socialisms, one for every Nation. A truly multipolar world is a world in which all nations are united by their mutual National Socialist beliefs.