The State of American Collapse, a Turning Point in Human History, and…
Hi. How’s everyone? I miss you guys! And so does Snowy. Maybe that’s why he’s hiding under the table and grinning.
Here’s what we’ve been discussing lately at The Issue, my new little publication slash website slash blog. I’d love it if you subscribed, and a big Thank You to everyone who has so far.
The Devastating Reality of American Collapse. A massacre in Maine—the same week that a die-hard MAGA Trumpist was finally chosen to be Speaker of the House. How did America get here—and where does it go next?
We delve into a topic near and dear to my broken heart: how societies collapse. First, they ignore the warnings. Then, they ignore the signs. And finally, a point of implosion’s reached. The New Speaker of the House, an architect of attempts to overthrow the election, aka a soft coup—it’s easy to see how such power’s to be abused. And if it is…the point of implosion’s on the horizon, perhaps. But even that’s not really the point.
The warnings and the signs. You see, taking a look at America, they’re dire. On every level. In that little essay, I highlight and discuss new research by Danny Blanchflower—he’s one of the world’s finest economists, a pal of mine, and he’s found that young people in America are reaching a point of widespread distress and despair. Not surprising, perhaps, but the results are bone-chilling—they’re exactly the above: signs. Of social collapse happening, just as massacres and fanatical, implosive politics are, too.
What’s to be done about that? First, we have to see where we really are. Not just in America, but in human history.
One of the reasons I created The Issue was to have a place to discuss Big Ideas. So here’s a Big Idea. We appear to have reached a Turning Point in Human History. I know, that sounds…like…a lot. But that’s what the evidence, the empirical data…and it’s mounting by the day…seems to demonstrate, over and over again.
The global economy’s forecast to stagnate—into the horizon of “forever.” There are no new sources of foundational prosperity in the well, which has run dry, made of fossil-based consumerist growth. That model’s over. Meanwhile, human progress itself—the largest scale macro sign we have—appears to have come to a halt, and has gone into reverse. At the same time, democracy’s imploding at stunning speed—my calculations, which we’ll publish formally soon, put it at between 5–10% a decade.
So. Economically. Socially. Politically. All point to us appearing to have hit a Great Turning Point in Human History. All of the shifts above are long-run trends. They don’t look anything like anomalies or hiccups or noise in the signal—they’re global, they have staying power, momentum, gravity all their own. These are serious, large-scale, enduring transformations.
It’s in that context that America’s convulsions are best understood—that so much going wrong all at once should be seen right now. You see, there’s often the feeling that “things are going wrong,” or “the world has gone crazy,” and it’s widespread—remember Danny’s research about young people in chronic despair. That’s not “just a feeling”, and it’s not just one about “a phase.” This is all real.
And it asks us to see. See it for what it is. If we have reached a Turning Point in Human History…as all the evidence appears to indicate…then what? We are going to have to rethink and reinvent everything, if the old paradigms and models are out of juice. What’s our relationship with each other? With nature? With life and being? Who are we, human beings? What are our “economies” and “organizations” meant to do? You can see all those young people in despair giving up on the old ways, as they fail them—they’re not so interested in being status-obsessed robo-consumers anymore. They’re the walking wounded, living proof of how badly we’re failing at…
A Turning Point in Human History. Our challenge is that profound, I’ve begun to believe, and so is our responsibility. But are we seeing it that way yet?
So click on over. Have a good old read. Much of it’s free. And again, a big old Thank You to everyone who’s joined so far—I couldn’t have done it without you, and launching a new publication is scary, daunting, and intimidating, even for me. We need each other, the sane, thoughtful, and decent ones. The future needs us.
Lots of ❤️,
Umair (and Snowy!!)
