Political Cancers
I had an epiphany this morning. I came to realize that almost all the issues I care deeply about have these two defining characteristics:
1.) They have built-in feedback loops that cause them to grow exponentially worse with time.
2.) There are masking mechanisms involved that tend to hide the problems from view until they are so large they are nearly insoluble.
They are political cancers. We are masking these cancers with stronger and stronger pain killers. If we wait until we start coughing, shitting and pissing blood, it’s too late.
Here’s a list of a few of the bigger ones:
1.) Global Warming
2.) The Concentration of Wealth
3.) The Role of Money in Politics
4.) The Financialization of our (Imperial) Economy
5.) The Concentration of Media Ownership
6.) The US Gun Culture
Not only do each of these problems have their own internal feedbacks, but most are now feeding into each other. I think that many of these things are exhibiting symptoms that becoming harder and harder to ignore.
It is long past time for us to remain on the sidelines watching things spin rapidly out control.
