2499. Multiple scenarios - and hard work
It is obvious that we have several major scenarios unfolding at the same time.
Ukraine -war, eEurope, world food and the general interplay of a multipolar world.
Inflation - hurting household incomes and hurting Biden. Banks want higher rates. Money is going into green transition and at the same time into propping up the old - current - system
Covid - not under control, clear failure of the health system - not having. one
Climate change - stuck between necessary cutting economic activity and propping it up .
The US is of necessity a smaller part of the world scene, and is are not handling it well. Things come apart, the center cannot hold. This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper. The energy of relationships and economy is turning from glue to dynamite.
One way to look at this is, we have global problems but no global governance. Is the scene set for a solid realistic and history changing move in the direction of empowered global governance - biggest change since Westphalia? Ugly but necessary? Maybe our job is to help it happen and try to make it as humane and fruitful as possible.
What to do? I think our responsibility is to take this seriously, realize that democracy requires education and conversation we do not have, and the first steps are to deepen our understanding of history, of plagues and empires and to follow your own doubts and questions by serious reading and talk with others. It includes understanding others, not looking down them. Drop everything. Do this as much as possible. Get educated, smarter, and imaginative. Doubt everything except animal faith in the world as sensed. It is real. “Our minds are sickened o’er with the pale cast of thought” as Shakespeare once said it.