Western Economies Staring into the Abyss

In response to an article in today’s Telegraph by Jeremy Warner, “Is the world doomed to suffer another Depression?”

“. . with Western economies once more staring into the abyss . . . . there is little or no consensus about what needs to be done.”

Because the global capitalist-consumer economy – on which we all depend, and are thus loath to question – is built on sand, which business people, investors, economists and the politicians they advise are, thus far, psychologically incapable of recognising and facing up to, rationalising this behaviour by insisting that the only alternative would be “socialism” which has been tried and rejected as being far worse, notwithstanding all its faults, than consumer capitalism.

It’s fascinating and frightening to observe how such highly esteemed, intelligent and well educated people, as all the leading social science academics who advise our business and political elites surely are, can still be so blind towards and deceived about human nature, the society (social, political and economic structures) it has given rise to over the centuries and our situation within it, and when anyone (like me) tries pointing it out, we are simply dismissed as unqualified crackpots – just as those questioning the literal truth of the Christian gospels or belief in an Earth-centred universe were in earlier times . . .

The denied or trivialised truth is that our economic system is deeply rooted in man’s Darwinian nature, which is why, in many respects, it works so well – because it comes naturally to us, appealing to our inherent drives.

Only, Darwinian evolution adapted us to a tribal environment VERY different from the artificial environment which now constitutes civilisation, and behaviours and motivations which once served our survival are now leading to our self-destruction.

We deceive ourselves into believing that we are a “rational animal”, guided by reason, when in fact we are far more a “rationalising animal”, interpreting reality to suit our own, largely preconceived and socially preconditioned, narrow and short-sighted self-interests.

Until we recognise and develop an understanding of the perverted Darwinian nature of our civilisation and situation, we are doomed to suffer the blind Darwinian fate of an animal no longer adapted to its environment.