Life in the Rear-view Mirror

Taking Stock

Understanding what has been happening to our society is important to understanding where we're heading, which is the next part of this book. Therefore, at the risk of belabouring the point, as I transition to the next major theme, or trend, I will go over the essence of what I have been talking about.

If I had to summarize the last few chapters in one sentence, it would be: the 1960s ushered in an era of unprecedented social change, some of which was good, but some has led to unparalleled levels of corruption, both in society and in the political system that governs us; and because of that, the masses are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. That's where we are!

Political corruption is the elephant in the room. It crept up on us slowly but now it has become so insidious that we can longer ignore it. The changes were hardly discernable at first, but they were the result of a master plan that allowed tremendous national wealth to be transferred to the rich and powerful.

The middle class, the biggest pillar of society and the economy, has all but disappeared. The well-paying union jobs were exported to Asia, reducing the power of unions and income gains have continually lagged GDP growth, while the wealthy financiers issued million dollar bonuses to themselves, even with taxpayers' money.

Political corruption is leading North America's middleclass into poverty. The trend is well established and there is nothing on the horizon to reverse it. The middleclass lifestyle that I enjoyed will become the stuff that dreams are made of for the vast majority of North Americans.

That's not the legacy we want or should be leaving our children and grandchildren, but it's not clear how it could be otherwise. How could it be any different when we're not even talking about the problem, let alone doing something about it!

We all live under the illusion that government needs to be tweaked to work better. Hello! Government has changed! We are now being ruled by a plutocracy, and for them, government is working very well. Year after year, they are getting a bigger share of the public pie. In fact, they are the only ones that can have their pie and eat it too!

The rest of us will have to be satisfied with the crumbs they leave behind. Although many of us are still better off living in North America than China, the inequality gap between the two is closing. Moreover, the fundamental freedoms of speech and privacy that we cherished so much, and set us miles apart from China, are now being infringed to such an extent, and with such regularity, that the gap between us and China is rapidly shrinking.

Where are we?

We have a freight train called overpopulation running on the same track, but in opposite direction, as a freight train called overconsumption. Governments are all we have that can prevent the trains from colliding, but they are not paying attention. They are too busy catering to the wishes of their masters — the oligarchs — and don't seem to show any concern over the impending collision. Will there be one?

In the following chapters, I discuss what's happening to our biosphere that sustains life, as the trains get closer and closer to a collision. Why is no one talking about it? Are we deliberately being distracted by the powers that be, like a magician distracts the audience just before pulling a rabbit out of a hat? Are politicians willing participants in the unfolding drama (or will it be tragedy?), or are they also being fooled?

Is the major issue facing humanity clean air and water, or climate change?

Are we running out of renewable resources?

Are we running out of arable land to feed an ever-growing population?

Is our toxic waste killing us?

Is too much technology destroying our world?

These are the types of questions that I will discuss in the following chapters, the types of questions that we should be asking our politicians and ourselves regularly. More than that, we should be talking about them and taking action.

What kind of action?

That will be the focus of the final part of the book — the way ahead.