Wednesday, February 3, 2010

"The next 20 years isn't going to be anything like the last 20yrs"

First things first, let me just release for a moment before I get to the meat of it all. Chris Martenson makes it explicitly clear that the next 20 yrs will be nothing like the last 20 yrs, that most new points should occupy our highest attention, exponential formulas are increasingly hard for most of mainstream America to understand and that he'll get back to a lot of points that he initially brings up. Also it was defiantly a crash course, the amount of information was outstanding and even a little overwhelming at times. Sometimes I felt as is the way the information was being explained to me was in a fashion that was below my level of understanding while some parts were above. It was wildly interesting to watch but also immensely intense.

But enough about that down to what all this information means for our future. One thing that i found was interesting was that i was bale to watch the movie with my mother and hearing her opinion and reaction the same information was an enlightening experience. In my naivety I can understand the dire needs that are facing us and how the past is shaping our future, however at the same time I'm not feeling the same pressure and potential upset that these changes are causing. I haven't had to take care of myself on my own yet, I've been able to have protection from outside sources thus far. and haven't experienced extreme turmoil in my life fiscally. But my mother has she could look at those graphs and remember the little bumps and how dramatic they were and then to scan over to the right and see that huge hockey stick shape, and have a minor heart attack seeing that the bump we are in is the size of a mountain in comparison to the previous bumps. Seeing my mom's reactions strikes fear into me, because I see that rising line and know that all things that go up must come down and it scares me to know that that downturn is well within in my future.

Really when it comes down to it all, the issues that we are facing are not new in any way but the natural equalizer to the up turn/the solutions to have been unnaturally usurped by past governmental organizations. When we start to tweak the natural flow of things then we tend to get ourselves in trouble, e.g. high levels of hormones in our food causing early physical maturation, the only way we can get around this is to prepare for a potential melt down of cosmic proportions. Also the change that has to occur is so large that I'm not sure the undertaking can happen unless everyone assists. Nearly every facet of our social structure has to change how we react to money, how we use and harness energy, how we attempt to answer the constraints of our world, ... and I could continue to go on for some time.

When considering the possible implications professionally I can't even fathom what might come of these problems. The only things I can think of is that as a teacher I might be dealing with many more broken homes more students relying on the system to support them along with students who are far to aware of their families' financial constraints and issues that are facing their family as a whole. This is going to cause students to grow up at an alarming rate, even faster than they already are. They are going to have to deal with conflict and stress that is beyond their years and it is going to infiltrate their learning. So not only will they be getting bits of at home but they will be encountering it on the school front as well. At this point it is all speculation like Chris said he can't predict what is going to happen or how serious it will end up being, and neither can I. I can merely identify possible things that could occurs in our future.

3 comments:

  1. That is wonderful that you were able to watch this film with your mother. I would have enjoyed watching it with my family (especially Grandmothers) to hear what they have to say and how their younger years were in relation to this film.
    I also agree that in order for change to occur more than just a few people need to participate! Great thoughts!

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  2. You're right, it is all speculation as to what the future holds.
    I didn't even think about the implications this will have on future children! Children are already under great stress because of those fantastic standardized tests but they will certainly be more stressed due to the financial situations of their family/families.
    I wish there were a quick and easy fix to this terrible situation so that the future children will not have to pay so severely for the mistakes of their parents and grandparents. Unfortunately there is no such solution.

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  3. That was a great idea to watch it with an older person who can help put things into perspective.

    The generation who lived through the first Great Depression, still knew how to do "real" things. I am not sure most of us have much of a clue about how to do things other than push buttons on a keyboard.

    There is a great book by Sharon Astyk called, A Nation of Farmers: Defeating the Food Crisis on American Soil. I think many more of us, especially younger folks, are going to have to consider a career in agriculture.

    KK

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