American capitalism is an evolving information and energy-processing (i.e. computational) system and complex socioeconomic metabolism that possesses implicit spatial, temporal and material limits. Where boundaries are eventually encountered, the reflexive impulse is for any such system so foundationally grounded upon assumptions of the heroic values implicit to (a) consumptive necessity to begin, slowly – at first, to consume itself.
The unregulated excesses of private equity and their dark arts of leveraged buyouts are examples of the extent to which systemic self-consumption has a catastrophically hollowing-out effect on the overall well-being of that system and the majority of it’s inhabitants. While these kinds of problem-spaces generally acquire a political character that leads to nothing more than self-propagating conflict and futile adversarialism, the central issues are of the conspicuous absence of sufficiently sophisticated systems-engineering solutions.
I might close here by reflecting that America is a nation in possession of some of the most intelligent minds on Earth and it is long past time that this endemic potential was provided the resources it requires to begin to level-up what is now clearly an anachronistic configuration of constitutional facts. In many ways, American decline is a microcosm of Global socioeconomic decline and nowhere do we see sufficient intelligence or insight applied to these wicked problems.
One reply on “American Decline”
As a species, we appear unable to resist our genetic programming to demand instant gratification even if that gratification will surely lead to our downfall. We appear to be unable to adopt and stick to a plan whose rewards or penalties will arrive more than 3 months into the future. Certainly, the next species to replace us will be able to take a longer view.
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