Reply #78: it's not really about coincidence

[cali]

and there's nothing amazing about this pattern of human behavior. It has masses of historical precedent. And really, it's hardly just the last 30 years that Congress has been responsive chiefly to its wealthiest and most powerful constituents, though it's gotten worse over the past couple of decades.

Are we screwed? Well, ultimately, of course we are. Humans are not now, and never have been, very good and harnessing our worst impulses. But it's not just us. Not that that's any consolation. I don't know whether things will completely collapse within, say, a decade, I do know that the dystopic predictions made over the past few decades that our society is about to suffer a complete collapse, have not been accurate. Society is both fragile and resilient. The when is unknowable.

In the meantime, I prefer not to do the woe is us thing. I think it's fairly pointless. I prefer to concentrate on what I can do personally and collectively within my community on a mostly local level.

Oh, one more thing; humans have been doing the apocalyptic thing for a very long time, whether it's swathed in religion or of the more modern secular variety.