Perhaps, we often assume these transformations to be inevitable in hindsight, we as humans are biased to see things that way.

It isn’t taught because they feel it was worth it and would still have an empire today if they could.

The West goes on and on about its moral superiority when the truth is its entire social structure is predicated on white supremacy, labour exploitation and the destruction of nature. Unfortunately the entire world will have to suffer for that, even if the benefits have only been experienced globally over the past few decades.

A lot of young white men in Western countries are turning to fascism because they feel that they’ve lost privilege relative to their fathers.

What does the future hold? Only time will tell. One thing we do know is that every superpower falls eventually.

For better or for worse will be the big question, especially since it’s a major driver of climate change which may result in our extinction. In any event the world has been set on this path by the West so we will have to see how it plays out.

Agreed. Reading and learning about Indigenous / precivilization world views can also help achieve this in a more holistic way. One thing that the Western / dominant world view only sparingly concerns itself with is sustainability. If we all thought about sustainable living as much as we did keeping up with the Joneses, I’d imagine many people would be happier, healthier and more fulfilled (compared to living a life serving capital).

I would recommend people opt out of consumerism as much as possible and focus on sustainable living.

Don’t chase the carrot needlessly.

All of which are pitfalls of modern living.

Lack of mobility = back pain

Anxiety = Financial security, work/life balance

Can’t sleep = Looking at a screen all day.

This should not be assumed at the expense of a thorough evaluation at onset but so much of this is by design with our current way of living.

Potential remedies once more serious conditions have been ruled out is regular walks, reconnecting with nature, decreasing screen time and embedding oneself in a sense of community (which will mean different things for different folks).

Humans simply don’t live a balanced lifestyle anymore (especially when it comes to caloric intake and activity). Restoring that balance should be the first step before we start throwing pharmaceuticals around.

Couldn’t agree more and do not in any way intend to diminish the hard work of those that prevented a widespread systems failure.

In hindsight. There was some degree of hysteria at the time, which prompted ended at the turn of the millenia when planes did not fall out of the sky and computer systems did not all fail in unison.

State control of corporations and industry through force is a key ingredient of fascism. Might as well put a swastika on the MAGA hat wearer also.

Global South wouldn’t be a fair example since you’d have to factor in historical (and current) exploitation by Western nations. This tends to bolster corruption by having leaders sell out their population to align with Western prerogatives, enriching themselves in the process.

The social democracies in these nations is generally an attempt to protect the populace from Western capitalism moreso than domestic capitalism.

One example would be when the US overthrew the Shah in Iran back in the 50s because they socialized ownership of their oil reserves (previously owned through exploitation by a Western coporation). They staged a coup d’etat to install a pro Western leader so that the Western exploitation could continue. This inevitably led to the Iranian revolution, playing a significant role in Iran’s current state as a theocracy.

The Global South, particularly South America, has countless of examples of this. The term banana republic is used to describe this very situation.

This is by no means an indictment on Western culture, just that the global rich will inevitably be in a position to manipulate the global not-so-rich for their own gain. Western nations are the global bourgeoisie.

Nordic nations are a better example of social democracies as they are not subject to the same type of meddling.

That’s certainly an oversimplification.

Science has representatives that are susceptible to the flaws in human thinking that are also apparent in religion. The recent pandemic made that very clear.

There is a scientific community that has good and bad players in it. Science doesn’t get to wash itself of human corruption just because it’s a process

There are multiple points in human history where science has overestimated itself.

In Abrahamic religions, God is all knowing, not people. Eastern religions are more abstract, some have all knowing deities and some do not.

At least they didn’t carve them into a mountain though?

US is in a state of slow implosion. Rest of the world needs to look at collaborating while excluding the US.

My guess is China will fill the void left by the disintegration of USAID in order to boost its global standing.

I strongly encourage all nations to begin violating US intellectual property rights. Nations like India already do so with pharmaceuticals.

Eventually other nations will need to take on the mantle of tech and pharmaceutical research and development and we don’t want to live in a world where all this progress is lost.

Americans have chosen to nuke their own democracy and we need to minimize the damage done to the rest of the world as much as possible.

Gen X is a mixed bag when it comes to this but most I’ve come across are more like Boomers than Millenials on this.

Low labor costs and centralization but the how matters less than the if and when (will they supercede the US) in this scenario.

EVs in the next 10 years. They’ve made massive investments dating back over a decade while the US can be described as aimlessly meandering like a drunk on the side of a freeway at best.

Really not the time to sleep on China if you want to keep your Imperial empire guys.

China completely ravaged US manufacturing and y’all are still in the corner wanking over ‘cheap Chinese product.’

China doesn’t just make the cheap things you use. They make everything you use.

Stop licking your wounds with petulent little jabs like this and start finding a way to compete. You know, the way your sacred free market dictates that you should.

China went from making cheap things to making everything you use cheap with either you or the American corporation you purchased from pocketing the difference.

They’re on a path to making things better than the US and once they do, we’ll have a new world order. If the US doesn’t wake up now, the second half of this century will be very different than the past 150 years.

It’s a Millenial trend borne of new financial pressures that Boomers and Gen X didn’t have to deal with.

They’re part of the consumer price index, a measure of inflation which in turn impacts the fed interest rate. A high rate means a high cost of borrowing which is bad for business (especially small business / start ups).

For most people it just contributes to the cost of living crisis but it has greater implications on the economy as a whole.

Trump has promised a reduction in interest rates this year while nearly all of his policies are designed to worsen inflation in the short term.