What's next?

Ask The Futurist.

The markets are broken thanks to central control and the ignorant meddling of academics.  As the survivors of WWII and The Great Depression have died off, what they learned is no longer taught in families or in schools, resulting in the staggering debt load of Western economies.  Along with the unprincipled use of credit, we have been conducting ourselves with unprincipled behavior, blind to the reasons why such things were warned against in the years before 1960.

We must be willing to let go of what we want to be true, and face up to what is true.  One of the truths is that the "sexual revolution" as promulgated in the 60s was in reality the sexual devolution, a massive step backward into practices that profoundly harm women.  The consequences were foreseen and are unfolding as predicted (or, more cynically, planned):  more divorce and extramarital sexual behavior; impairment of the ability of men and women to care for one another; and the adoption of contraception by governments as a handy way to keep numbers down and so control their people.  (Here's a well-written retrospective.)  The sexual devolution is inextricably intertwined with the economic consequences of poor behavior choices.

The Futurist has done the heavy lifting of rounding up information and presenting it in a clear format.  His tone gets a bit cynical at times, but, by and large, his conclusions are sound.  I had the advantage of growing up with a mother who was an avid student of markets and what drives them, including societal trends; she foresaw in the 70s what we are dealing with now.  At some point we will all have to begin to take small steps to reclaim civilization, starting with educating ourselves on the basics by reading the classics with an open mind to disabuse ourselves of the notions being taught as "truth" in public schools and universities.

As a general rule, true progress, sound development and interesting ideas come from deep understanding about the rules and experiences of those who have gone before.  This is true in music, art, science, engineering, architecture, computer programming, and design.  Too often we achieve only mediocrity, relying on marketing to make up the difference in swaying people to like our product.  Real progress comes from the individual buckling down to learn what those who came before figured out.  That means reading and thinking.  To live life well it is required to know the wisdom of those who lived well before us... and to have an idea of what "living well" looks like.