Comments on: Collective Societies Can Be Dangerous

By: markross

markross — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:14:24 +0000

Please also see: Collectivism verses Individualism

By: markross

markross — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:52:01 +0000

Speaking of putting all your eggs in one basket:
Consider the two big bubble and bust economies that have lead us to recession, in the early part of this decade, and this most recent recession. In the 90’s, perhaps we vested too much faith in the upcoming Internet boom; and irrefutably, the government, and banks, pushing out more and more house loans, at very low interest rates, was also not a very prudent, long-term investment. They feel good while we are all living large, however, once the bubble bursts, we suffer the consequences.

I guess this could also fit into redundancy as well… We need to base our economic growth on several factors, and not just one…

Perhaps that gold rush mentality has been part of nation’s fabric for one too many years… I would like to see renewed ingenuity in manufacturing; as well as looser regulations, so that our nation’s entrepreneurs can get busy again!

By: markross

markross — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 09:46:21 +0000

Speaking of redundancy: I would love to see another system of currency, or way of commerce, put in place, if, God forbid, the dollar were to vaporize. It would be interesting if the states could begin creating their own systems of currency... which brings us back to the collective society: If our current system of finance were to collapse, it very well can take the entire country down; whereas, if each state were to use their own currencies, each state would not be weakened by the fiscal policies of the others. Something to ponder for sure. -- This is one very interesting idea that I read... Free Competition in Currency Act of 2009, by Congressman Ron Paul

By: markross

markross — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 09:31:20 +0000

Good job! In great detail, you articulated the many complexities of our system, that we simply do take for granted, on a daily basis…

One thing you did not mention, was the potential vulnerability of cyber-attacks/cyber-terrorism, aimed at our power grids etc. While technology is a splendid thing, it also makes us increasingly more vulnerable.

Haiti is, indeed, a major disaster of cataclysmic proportions; and unlike The U.S., their infrastructure was a disaster waiting to happen. In comparison, on smaller scale, I suppose we could look at the breach of our aging levees when Katrina hit; displacing many people, and causing social chaos for quite some time.

911 was another event that clearly pointed out how The U.S., with all of our technology and capabilities, is always very vulnerable, if our guard is let down in key elements, such as intelligence gathering and national-security.

Lastly, I have also been thinking about collective societies as well, over the last year, with the near financial collapse of ‘08. Indeed, there are some very astute survivalists out there, who are prepared for a near, or complete breakdown of our system. And there are scores of people who have invested in tangible assets, such as gold, to at least guard against a hyper-inflation scenario. It makes you wonder how much more vulnerable we are, if our own government continues on this reckless path of spending. Short of foreign invaders, or natural catastrophes, we could very well fall on our own sword, through lose fiscal policies, and/or a complete social breakdown. At which point, foreign invaders very well could come in for the kill.

None of these thoughts are very pleasant, but after 911, if we learned anything, it is that we are not as insulated as we may have once believed.

By: markross

markross — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:00:05 +0000

Jackie,
That book series looks really interesting. Thank you!

By: Jackie

Jackie — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:38:18 +0000

I used to never think about doing without water, electricity, and sewage until I read Terri Blackstock's restoration series All electricity, computers, water plants, etc are destroyed due to electro-magnetic pulses from a star that exploded in space. The "what-if" books do a good job showing the chaos that such a catastrophe would cause.