“What’s a PWoP?” [ PWoP, N. pronounced pee-wop]
That’s shorthand around here for People (or Person) Without Purpose. And, it’s a mighty-fine topic to take up on a Monday morning when so much of the daily news-flow, here in the summer doldrums, is like reading an amateur’s attempt to re-write the always-entertaining Hints from Heloise. (Who’s a Texan, by the way and a really nice human being.)
PWoPs have basically taken over America – in case you hadn’t noticed. Most often, products of a liberal education curriculum that embeds the specious notion that “Everyone finishes the same in Life…” PWoPs have given-up being aggressively self-directed, self-realizing people. They’ve set aside core American Excellence objectives to accomplish in favor of the socialist “pack,” “average,” and “herd” mentality..
I’ll make a little wager with you: We can walk into almost any food-joint in America and ask the wait-staff “What’s your Big Goal in Life?” (BGiL) and only one-in-twenty (if that) would be able to articulate anything larger than “Just getting by.”
The Dream is Dead – if you give up dreaming.
And that, dear Reader, is a horrible waste of human capital.
When did we turn PWoP’s?
We can trace its roots back to the misnamed Great Society of Lyndon Johnson. This is when liberalism got its hooks into Education. It’s also when the planned destruction of minority families began on the assumption that non-working males in a household shouldn’t be supported. Say goodbye to the male-in-the-household. Neutering of a culture. Opened the door to gender indecision and more.
As time rolled on, education continued to liberalize such that today, young people (40 is young at 70, lol) figure they should get rewarded without winning.
I had a fatherly tough-talk with my son about this over the weekend. Went something like this:
“You know, G, your generation is like a football player getting the ball at the far 10-yard line. They begin running it back for what should be a 90-yard return touchdown that would land them in the Hall-of-Fame. But, something goes wrong: They give up running when they get down to their own 40-yard line. What they think – and this is the mush shoveled into their heads by liberal education – “Well, I would have made it, so give me the accolades and rewards NOW.” Son, it doesn’t work like that. To a clearer-thinking generation, the touchdown run isn’t complete until the ball is spiked in the end zone and the high-five’s that follow. YOUR generation gives up at the 40-yard line and wants praise for a half-done job.”
Are the Young To Blame?
Not entirely, of course not. They were raised with this mush-headed “Everyone finishes the same” by burgeoning political correctness disease. There are so many stupid academics and communist-lite educators in America, it boggles the mind (*and sickens the patriot).
They leave out the massive failures of socialism (including the now drone-bombing Venezuela utopia) in favor of the DELUSIONAL VISION of Utopian Life.
The other excuse for the young is that they are self-aware, but not Nation-aware. They’ve been bred not to see that the invention of the Internet has led to World War Web and their minds have been taken hostage by violence-inciting demagogues like Antifa. Which should never have been anywhere near Portland this weekend, except for the mush-head liberalista stooges – like the Mayor of Portland who seems to be – enabling. When elected by a coalition of barricades, it makes sense.
Being lied-to, and misled as today’s young are, it’s easy to see why there so many Millennial’s “sitting on the 40-yard line” of Life. They sit like lumps on the field listening to spew and cross-posts on social from the more-highly motivated pseudo-revolutionaries running their ball down-field for the touchdown. FMTT.
So, What’s Missing?
In a word? PURPOSE.
We don’t train young people to how to “Box Out of the Think.” We used to do that.
Also, we used to teach goal setting. That’s failed, as well.
And, we used to teach people “hands-on” skills. Thanks again to left-wing education, we’ve gone-along with the industrial take-down of America by agreeing with the massive offshoring of manufacturing jobs. Sure, been great for China and India…but what about America? Not so much.
Politicians share the blame, too. Ever since Carter, America has failed to articulate what it means to be a “Self-Made” person. Some who, can as Carter did so often on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, pick up a hammer, grab a saw, and create useful value from raw materials. At least George Bush cut wood at his ranch in Texas.
What was Bill Clinton? A slippery-speaking lawyer. George Bush? Oil promoter. Barack Obama? A slippery-speaking lawyer…What Liz Warren? Yep, another lawyer. Hillary? Another….Ted Cruz? Another. WTF? Must to Lawyer to “Run” anymore?
While I’m certain Donald Trump knows tools and how to build, his problem is one of accessibility. “Here kid, take this $2-million and go build a 12-plex…” Not accessible as a Purpose. We need ground-up progressive goal-setting.
Young people today are surrounded – fenced-in – by limited thinking. Life in what’s left of America (which we call ‘Merica) is stratified as:
- Street people: “Bring me your tired your poor, your humble yearning to be...” and I will give you a needle exchange and a sidewalk to crap on plus you can barricade ICE offices and we’ll declare Sanctuary City status…” Free meals and phones while we’re at it. Obviously, not where I want to be….you have the choice, too.
- Wage Slaves: These are the people who keep bankruptcy attorneys in business. Starting from min-wage, they worth themselves into a school or training and discover the Big Dream is a Big Lie. Here comes healthcare bills. He comes the student loan collection mob. Unwilling to unwind their debt (lazy?) and get debt-free, they sit on that 40-yard line and bankruptcies follow. As we note this morning, this is increasingly happening to old people, too. Pension fund heists and mismanagement.
- The Digital Elites: Just got that newly-minted degree in computer science, linguistics, or knowledge engineering? Here’s $250,000 a year and we know a South Bay real estate fellow who will find you excellent digs. Our fear? This is American Tech Bubble II and it’s HQ is either Seattle or the South Bay.
Back on PURPOSE: The Street People mostly have none. The second group – wage slaves – maybe catches sight of a worthy Purpose in Life – only to have it blow up on them. And the last? The D.E’s? Well, enjoy the hell out of it, while you can. Remember, though, if your “brilliant code” isn’t in your name, you’re working yourself out of a job; such is the nature of code libraries. A.I. can kill coding…in case you hadn’t got that far extensible, yet.
Feel better, now? It’s Monday so we now return you to your regularly-scheduled Reality View of Life…
What’s “Trending” vs. “Important”
OMG, here we go, again. Wading back into the mindless horde – or is that herd….
Here’s what we find under Trending as of “snapshot time this AM:”
On Fox, “Body found miles from where Mollie Tibbetts was last seen not missing college student, police say.” You follow police stories? Seriously?
Global News (Canada) offers “Kelowna’s new ‘rage room’ lets visitors smash away frustration.” Who needs a rage room when there’s Twitter, am I right?
Next, CBS MoneyWatch explains how :” Google reportedly plans censored return to China.” This verges on being useful: Since the Great Firewall of China does keep their populace from being a dim sum like ours…
On the ever-bash-full CNN, 2/3’rds of their above-the-fold was Trump-bashing. Including “How LeBron James and Melania Trump laid bare the contradictions in the Trump White House.” and they follow-up with “Bikers salute leader of their pack: Donald Trump.” Heat-map madness on the left, anyone?
And most shocking of all? BBC Global which offers “Cat stolen from Russian museum found after social outcry.”
DBSG! (*digital bullshit galore!)
Pardon my directness, but this looks100% useless – purpose-built to entertain the losers on the 40-yard line while they wait for their just rewards and the clouds of bankruptcy flies to descend.
Now, What’s Important?
Not as attention-getting as another plunging Kardashian neckline, perhaps, but it occurs to us, reading “Mineral never seen on Earth found inside Russian meteorite.” that maybe the new mineral can lead to a new technology.
You know, like copper lead to wire?
Long-time readers will remember our high priase of the late Matthew Simmons’ book “Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy.” What Simmons laid out was the steady increase in Saudi water-cut. In other words, as water is used in drilling, over time, you end up pumping more water and less oil. And the curve is slow yet unforgiving. As Oilman2 says, “Depletion Never Sleeps.”
PWoP’s (those people without purpose) won’t care. Not when there’s filler like Kim and Khloe Kardashian fight with Kourtney over months-long feud in live Twitter fight to distract ’em.
But for the grown-ups and a handful of thinking young, word that “Oil gains after monthly Saudi output shows surprise drop” has us wondering “Is the fall off the back-side of Peak Oil 2 getting ready?”
Asian Economics will bear watching in coming weeks and months, too as “BOJ’s architect of ‘shock and awe’ plots retreat from stimulus.” Overnight, Japan was down a bit, but China was up.
Here in the US, futures markets were showing the Dow opening up 31.
Eyeing the Week Ahead
Our Peoplenomics.com deep-think this week is about electrical influences on markets. Suggested reading to keep ahead of the class is the late Dr. Robert O,. Becker’s “The Body Electric: Electromagnetism And The Foundation Of Life.”
On the data front, The Fed’s misnamed “Consumer Credit” (they are creditors, but the truth is this is the Consumer Debt report) comes out tomorrow and it should provide insight into how confident the herd is in being in hock.
Wednesday’s a nothing. Producer Prices come Thursday, and works us to to a crescendo Friday when Consumer Prices are released.
The Zoom-Out-View is that we’re still holding to our projection that there’s a 70% or better chance of new all-time market highs before the end of August. As always, this is NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE, but if you’re playing the short side, we figure that’s as risky as playing with matches and gasoline in a room with a natural gas leak.
The National Weather is still summer…though we’re due to get 2-inches next weekend here, so maybe the monsoons are here.
Now, off to Purpose with you. If you don’t have a Big Purpose in Life – something that floats your boat and makes you jump out of bed in the morning bursting with energy and anxious to sink your teeth into the day to move you along the path to your goal, our condolences.
People are God-like when motivated and rock-like when not.
And that, sadly, is what liberal education, socialist media, political correctness,, and snoozing on the 40-yard line have done to America.
The really grand silver lining? Sure makes it a helluva lot easier for the rest of us…
(Moron the ‘morrow!)
You know George its easy to point your finger at this group or that group saying well its their fault, or some program enacted by government as being the culprit,but the truth is this train went off the track years ago in many ways,but the truth is that capitalism has as many faults as socialism,where greed and wars become part of everyone’s lives,where no one cares about anyone as long as they get the hog’s half….
I agree with Robert Ferrin and will go another step further : in the long run (another 20 years?) capitalism will cause its own collapse because of 1)the WPoP George just talked about — too few people being productive and 2) it causes great income gaps (again productive vs unproductive folks) which causes either too great a burden on the government’s safety net expenditures or, if not addressed, massive unrest. In either case — bankruptcy or heavy crackdowns on the unrest, democracy is at risk as well. Maybe we’ll see Roosevelt’s New Deal all over again.
One of the contributors to WPOP is the idea of debt. Debt brings the future forward, makes saving and planning unnecessary, dilutes the fun of anticipation, makes us slaves to the note holder and usury.There is no “year if Jubilee” to wipe out debt as referenced in the Bible, that would bring everyone back to a debt free condition. While sometimes a necessity, easy debt is an easy ride to slavery.
Income gaps are much greater under socialism.
In regards to socialism and capitalism, a balance between viewpoints is required for a healthy society. Now in America there is little common ground for healthy dialogue to solve problems. The culture war, soon to become more like a Civil War, precludes the kind of dialogue needed now. Each side demonizes the other side. Medicare and Social Security are examples of how inclusion of “socialism” can be helpful in a society. And yes greed is a horrible symptom of capitalism without some socialistic safeguards. Capitalism does inject a powerful motivation for some people to become a master, to be great at what they do. This helps the individual to be proud of themselves for their successes, and in many cases helps with a contribution to the world through their work. In a similar vein, nationalism (growing by big leaps especially in Europe and America) gives needed movement toward a country’s identity and self preservation. And yet globalism helps to unite the world and tends to bring people together and understanding one another better. We are now, in my estimation, in the process of transforming our American culture into an eventual better one. And hopefully after the disasters on the way (including as George lets us know) a down-fall of the stock market and economy soon. In the ashes we can return more soundly to our country’s values, which we have been leaving behind, and build an America that is no longer at war with itself, and instead is more balanced in its expression of differences, working for the common good instead of fighting to the death for one’s ideology. Left and Right are both to blame for destroying our country, not just the liberals and not just the conservatives
This is a marvelously balanced view – thank you!
Wow Leo.. that was well said..
@ GU
“We need ground-up progressive goal-setting”…..the phrase ‘progressive goal setting’ seems to me to be one of the many problems that we have,
(taken out of content)
Like winning a Nobel Peace Prize for stuff you MIGHT do.
IMO the problem is that humans are flawed and spiriitually retarded creatures who, in the main, make too little effort to improve themselves. It’s the bottom line issue of Service to Self (STS) or Service to Others (STO). According to a comment I read online, it is estimated that less than a million people out of the 7.5 billion are 51% STO, meaning, the world is effed up because we are all out to get ours regardless of the impact on others or the planet.
I’m still seeking a worthy significant other to be of service to. Until I find her and we click, I’m just frustrated – building and improving things, including myself with no specific purpose or direction. I help others if they ask but most local folks don’t want anyone interfering with their lives. Most city folks are too busy doing structured activities to even have time for friends, and very few care for intimacy anymore. I’m available to the community if there’s a need, and they know it. I maintain my property and stay out of the way.
NM Mike: I don’t know if it will work in hot climates, but in NY people are out on the streets & sitting in their front yard all the time. All you need to do is take a walk until you see a woman you like & start a conversation. If at first you don’t succeed, keep walking until you see the next attractive young lady to your liking and repeat the above. I guarantee success.
Mike…I hope you’re lucky enough to find a woman like my second wife..nouf said..
Lawyers own the judiciary. Why not ban them from the legislative branch? Isn’t it a conflict of interest for those making a living off of the law to also be making the laws?
You are correct.
When a lawyer passes the BAR he becomes an ‘Officer of the Court’ and is in the Judiciary.
I have read that serving simultaneously in different branches of government is unconstitutional.
As lawyers constitute the majority of both branches of Congress maybe it can be found that all laws passed since this was the case can be cancelled?
Whoopee!
You have mentioned getting into electrsical this week on peoplenomics. I would like to recommend that everyone look at Dr. William Pawluk on Google. I acquired his portable vibrating magnet about 2 years ago and think that using it has helped me pull away from the mid 8os group both mentally and physically.I wont expand on my benefits as Dr. Pawluk does a much better job of doing that. Very happy camper.
I graduated High School in 1963. (Make of that, what you will.)
We were taught over the preceding years, Logic, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Beginning Calculus, Geology, English — including Speech and Dramatics, German, American History, Art — both active and appreciative — World History since the beginnings of agriculture, “Social Studies,” (wherein daily consumption of the “Newspaper Of Record,” The New York Times, was the course content — back when it wasn’t a punchline to a joke), Metal Shop, Wood Shop, Phiz Ed, Music — with active participation in the Orchestra, Chorus, and a thing called “Jazz Ensemble” were all very popular– and a bunch of other stuff, mostly all now either deemphasized or eliminated. I became a pretty good generally educated guy, and a photographer, a ham radio op, a fairly decent cellist, a very decent folk guitarist/performer, and a Major Science Geek.
This was all in a small town (pop 40,000) public school, given to me, a not-rich, “ordinary” worker’s kid from the lower middle class side of the tracks.
I had summer jobs in tech industries — ultrasonics, electronics, early computer equipment makers, and others.
My contemps and I were all very well and generally educated, thanks to the taxpayers of my small town. The Fed had very little to do with it.
Sad to say, that day is long gone.
Important to say is that this is a matter of the utmost concern for true National Security.
Ignorant and soft and self-indulgent is no way to live a life.
Or, brother Bill, to run a country – amen
The Barbarians are at the gates — and since they are also in charge of OPERATING the gates, the barbarians are well PAST the gates, and headed downtown. We are in some Deep Guacamole, I fear. I think only a Major Re-Set of The Mechanism and its driving assumptions and values can fix it now. Too bad, as many will find this process Very Inconvenient.
William, I graduated high-school in 1978. I did great until I kept hitting the glass ceiling called ‘college degree.’ But, I persisted, and graduated in my early 40’s, with a worthless piece of paper; all it did was stop the discrimination. Now, 17 years later, I see, how worthless that piece of paper has become, how they have dumbed down the population so much, that a college degree doesn’t mean what it used to mean. ALL ON PURPOSE. We also had a great high-school education; all that is gone now. Now, they graduate em and they can’t read, write, or do arithmetic, don’t ask about cursive, or critical thinking or budgets, or anything. It’s so sad! But, hey throw more money on the pile, those administrators need it, so they can keep dumbing down the curriculum. Plus, don’t forget, we have educated over 50 million of ‘other country’s citizens’, in the last 30 years. They all need food, clothing, bi-lingual, multi-lingual teachers and translators, materials, supplies, housing, etc., THINK of what could have been done FOR us and the world if we hadn’t of spent so much money bombing the middle east, destabilizing many countries, and flooding the usa with everyone from everywhere but here. To think, if the globalists REALLY cared about the third world, they’d invest in it and make it the first world! Ah, well, Agenda 21, 2030 is alive and well, spreading that wealth around and redistributing it!
Birds of a feather, flock together. It has very little to do with millennials, age, education…It is the mindset of a region that dictates purpose.
What exactly is a liberal education anyway? I supposedly live in what everyone perceives is a liberal metro area…Yet…we have the worlds strongest capitalist economy with the highest valued companies. There aren’t many people without purpose here that I know of. I think liberal is defined differently by region. Here, we don’t use the word liberal a a noun…it’s an adjective …Progressives is the new noun. That’s because everywhere you look, the region is progressing because of our liberal laws on growth, construction and development…which is why are state bird should be the Crane…there’s so much high rise construction going on to keep up with the demand of business growth. We have liberal tax abatement and incentives to attract businesses and keep businesses. Because of our liberal views on air quality, we have allowed privately owned bus lines by the hundreds to transport young techies from their desired living local in San Francisco to the Silicon Valley. The benefit from this is 10,000 less cars on the road every day…which is a huge traffic relief. Tech companies are liberal with their benefits and feed for FREE their employees breakfast, lunch and a mid-day snack to keep them happy. From a conservative business angle, this is called an employee retention program, designed to keep them engaged and less likely to get poached from competing tech companies. I could go on for pages and pages of similar scenarios.
Our housing prices are real high where schools outperform…and each schools students here are competing to get into Stanford, Cal, Ivy League and equally competitive colleges. If a millennial is lucky enough to get hired by a Silicon Valley company, the real high level game starts. If an employee isn’t a game changer, there’s another waiting in line to take their place.
That’s our culture. Both of my kids…had college scholarships…graduated with honors and are number one in tech sales of their respective companies. They are a result of that culture that surrounds us. A majority of their classmates throughout the years have equal or better successes. I left the Midwest because I needed something better than to be surrounded by mediocrity and complacency in the city we formerly lived in. That city couldn’t make it to the 20 yard line…let alone the 40. I am the type of person that feeds off of the success of others around me. I have a real tough time self starting. Many people do. That’s why some cities and their citizenry never really grow and change. My wife and I needed a change for the betterment of us and our family. We at least recognized our faults and made the huge family shift. Many people don’t
I think our present administration is fostering that divide between success and complacency even more. Rather than us vs. them…why can’t Trump say…”Hey folks…What is it you want out of life? What is your dream and goal? And, how do you suggest we get there? Here are some examples of regions with success and what they have done to bolster their economy and eliminate unemployment. Is that what you want for yourselves? If not…what can we do to make your life better, more productive financially?”
I think most folks would say it starts with a ramped up education for their kids. That’s what I wanted and I got it. I think it also means a ramped up education for the parents to adjust to the ever changing paradigm shifts in the way we are employed. I also think most people want less name calling and more name and societal recognition. They want less about the President being obsessed about defending his ego and more about how he is defending our right to speak out and have his administration listen. They don’t want a wall…they want a bridge to cross that path to a better life. They don’t want campaign rhetoric, they want action.
The region I live in is pretty spectacular…but all our administration wants to talk about is the rhetoric or talking points about how we are nasty San Francisco/Nancy Pelosi liberals…West Coast liberals…Hollywood liberals. Well guess what…those so called liberals make a ton of money. 5th largest economy in the world. Throw Seattle in the mix and the west coast would be a major, major world power to be reckoned with.
Can’t we all be a bit more cohesive and a lot less divisive. It starts from the very top. Once we tackle that…I think you will get a lot more people getting on board to make this country a better place…In Other words a lot less people running to the 40 yard line and more people taking the step to spiking footballs in the end zone.
We different on this “topness” you mention.
Obama didn’t lead a wave of nuthink and innovation – he just rode it.
Trump tax breaks…well, we’ll see if that had long term good impacts – I’m skeptical as you know. But, coupled with modest tariffs to take the edge away from relo of US co’s to offshore, yeah, hat can work.
But to say PWoP is a regional? Nope.
Seattle and the South Bay are like DisneyLand and DisneyWorld – both special cases.
In GENERAL people today are less willing to work hard and want more for less, and if they don’t get it? To the barricades!
Or, Portland, lol
George, are Seattle and Bay Area like Disneyland/world..or are they a model to emulate? Both are light years ahead in infrastructure, but I always thought that the rest of the country could piggy back on the success of those two regions. Austin provides a great solution to the problems that exist in other parts of the country. They have a burgeoning tech industry. In fact, they share a lot of resources, IC, VC money and more with both Seattle and the Bay Area. They have a base of talented engineers and many of their start ups make it by establishing their base in Austin it utilizing the Fischer resources and venture money here. Austin is like a AAA minor league baseball team, feeding top prospects to the Major league teams in Seattle and the Bay Area. Likewise, Austin is a great spot for Silicon Valley companies to send IC to and start up their initiatives at a lower cost than they can out west.
If more and more cities would adopt that model…Phoenix, Denver, Pittsburgh, Columbus, allnof North Carolina, Boise already are…then there can be a symbiotic relationship from a jobs standpoint…that would also have an affect on the type of education preferences kids choose. We need more STEM focused schools!!!
And all of that may change the young people to adopt a more purposeful outcome.
The big thing is to be knowledge-based and not an airhead, whether you are in technology or humanities. And to honor life in all forms!
Those tech buses with over 800 citations:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Tech-Buses-Commit-Hundreds-of-Violations-on-SF-Roadways-377645131.html
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/01/brotopia-silicon-valley-secretive-orgiastic-inner-sanctum
Then there’s Apple products made in China under brutal working conditions, tons of $$ not taxed by off shoring (Google’s recent lawsuit with Europe), the Valley’s racial bias in hiring, the Tech bus drivers sleeping in parking lots, the contract workers working as peons, etc….
“PWoP’s (those people without purpose) won’t care.”
Must be frustrating for GU to know all this (and more!) and still carry on. Humans will eventually destroy their habitat by by overpopulation with PWoP’s, YMHO.
RFO Bruno. Screwing the planet into famine is NOT a purpose.
I agree, Sir George.
It all comes down to….How much is my “Time” worth?
May it be monetary,or just having time to spend.
Time is the commodity that is really all we have.
Seasons change. Fads come and go.
Dust in the wind…. Haha
Have a great day George!
Desiderata….
Let’s take Portland OR. When has it been OK in the USA to take a crap on the streets. The homeless in downtown Portland apparently think it is acceptable. Especially the group of homeless who for some reason choose to be homeless so they could smoke dope & fornicate, & then they think they have the right to harass anyone they feel needs it.
Thanks to liberal city planners, unless you have to, no body goes to downtown Portland. It is too dangerous. That is what we have to look forward to in our cities if we Let the BLUE WAVE MOVEMENT SUCCEED.
Join President Trump’s RED WAVE MOVEMENT, & vote all Republican in November.
As an experiment, for one month, let’s close the New York stock Exchange & stop printing money, & see what happens to our economy & the world’s economy. Everyone would become pro President Trump & Capitalism, world wide (at least the developed nations, probably not the Taliban).
George there is a very good article about Iran and the US on Time internet daily
Every nation reaches a saturation point in the sheer number of people and the diversity of that sheer number is just the fuse of the coming unrest. PWops are the canary in the coal mine. No purpose equals no hope, then when the bottom falls out with no where to go they attack anything except a Vietnam style Fire-Base. The Indians and Chinese are dealing with large populations with 2 different solution. Chinese are generally one race but the focus is on education. India is also generally one race and the focus is on education and status. No easy answer for us. We are doomed in the future. How far into the future? That’s why we prep.
The late sci-fi author Robert A. Heinlein created a “future history” timeline which he used to plot most of his stories against. This was back in 1939-1941. As a former Naval Academy grad, his timeline was based on his knowledge of historical & social cycles and the trends of technology.
Anyway, his most accurate call on his timeline was a period called “the crazy years” and I think he pegged the start of the period around 1970 or so. A period in such turmoil, that a normal man would be in danger of being locked up as a dangerous loon.
As a kid I thought it was a touch overblown and yet I’ve absolutely watched it happen, heck, in hindsight I’ve participated in some of it.
He later said in interviews that the core driver of that forecast was that the pace of change driven by technological innovation would outstrip people’s ability to adapt; while at the same time disrupting the existing cultural norms, thus leaving people adrift without a common cultural-moral anchor.
Consider, to rebel against one’s culture, ala the 1960s, one has to have a common culture to rebel against. What would that be today? I would postulate that for most people today, there isn’t one.
I agree with the ‘existence’ of these people, but not the why –
I worked for an insurance company during the early eighties, and one day my boss (who I considered a friend) confided that most of the people who worked in her group had no purpose in life. She flattered me by saying I had a ‘purpose in life’, as well as a co-worker who had six children (now that does boggle the mind!).
Frankly, most of the people I come across are ‘air heads’ – barely using much of the intelligence that humans are capable of. Think of what one could learn!
Do I have a purpose in life? Time and circumstance will wear on oneself. But I believe and know that the ‘goal’ in life should be to be as ‘knowledge based as possible’, ‘to honor the existence of life’, and to have a bit of fun through the passage.
I don’t think that being ‘nasty’ to one part or group in our country is helpful at all!
MDS.. I have through the years wondered.. What was my purpose on this earth.. I had friends that would give me guff because they thought I had under achieved for my abilities simply because I could see patterns in obscure puzzles.( I had thought once in a job that I had.. since I was at the bottom..I would dazzle them.. every month I would come up with a way for them to save at least ten grand a year in order to go out to eat at the country club with the boss.. I went every month for twelve years.What I failed to see was that I should have been learning how to play golf instead.. every two months I get asked what are my thoughts on this or that.. or how I would approach this or that.The only one that I got thanked over..Was a suggestion that I gave to the coffee company.. no letter but one day a huge shipment of the very thing I suggested of coffee.)..( yeah right.. we all know having an ability hasn’t got anything to do about it at all.. you can train a monkey to do most things) I was lucky and found where I felt I belonged and I feel an inner security having found that nitch where I belonged..
I think it is a combination.. the planned dumbing down of the population..
that is a way of enslavement.. in many countries today woman aren’t allowed to learn or go to school..(whew.. I just deleted a long story of a friend that saved and educated a woman out of slavery..)you don’t see old men as the suicide bombers.. it is the young and women.. the ones that are considered useless.
the other way is financial slavery and dependence.(I think making the vast majority of people dependent on social programs is a plan.. but not against the laboring class.. against the twenty nine percent at the top. take our president he is one at the top. this makes it hard for the puppeteers to control. so they try discredit and doubt..get the backing of the masses the one percent can take over the twenty nine percent that they can’t tempt away)
What I think is that everyone has a purpose some that feel they are above the other like to take advantage of those below them in their way of thinking..like the Egyptian empire. which story do you believe..
that the Hebrews were set free from bondage and slavery.
Or that the Hebrews laborers and engineers felt they were being taken advantage of as laborers ( well paid ) while the mass of Egyptians were living in luxury giving them the feeling of inequality.. then upon leaving their jobs looted the Egyptian empire and the people there of their wealth. the same story for many other empires along the way..
I think that the someone with purpose is everyone.. each of us has our own talents each of us no matter what their station or mental strength has an ability to shine.( I have met many multi millionaires many many of them and they had a third grade education.. what they did was be willing to take a chance and go for it) only a few are given the opportunity to achieve their passions in life some of whom if offered refuse to take the leap and decide to stay in a position where they feel more secure.
“All the organs of the body were having a meeting, trying to decide who was the one in charge.
“I should be in charge,” said the brain, “Because I run all the body’s systems, so without me nothing would happen.”
“I should be in charge,” said the blood , “because I circulate oxygen all over so without me you’d all waste away.”
“I should be in charge,” said the stomach , “because I process food and give all of you energy.”
“I should be in charge,” said the legs , “because I carry the body wherever it needs to go.”
“I should be in charge,” said the eyes, “Because I allow the body to see where it goes.”
“I should be in charge,” said the rectum , “Because I’m responsible for waste removal.”
All the other body parts laughed at the rectum and insulted him, so in a huff, he shut down tight.
Within a few days, the brain had a terrible headache, the stomach was bloated, the legs got wobbly, the eyes got watery, and the blood was toxic. They all decided that the rectum should be the boss.
The Moral of the story?
The ass hole is usually the one in charge!
Great post Leo
“Is the fall off the back-side of Peak Oil 2 getting ready?””
You know I wonder..could there be a positioning to adopt other power sources.
We know solar is a viable source, hydrogen a more than abundant source, wind, geo, then there’s the sources in the USA. A friend was talking to an engineer at one of the countries wells. The egineer said they assessed there to be a five hundred year supply at the wells in that location but were being made to cap them off..then there’s the oil that already been pumped in the form of plastic. There is said to be an island of plastic bigger than Texas in the ocean..not even considering what we bury every day. Reprocess it. Its Cheaper than drilling by a long shot..
A leading oil company:
https://electrek.co/2018/08/06/shell-invest-startup-ample-electric-cars-for-everyone-charging-tech/
Shell, the major British–Dutch multinational oil and gas company, has been leading several efforts having to do electric cars as it sees the auto industry transition to electric propulsion affecting its business.
Now the oil giant Shell is leading an investment in a startup with the goal to make ‘Electric Cars for Everyone’ with a new charging technology.
Shell’s VC arm Shell Ventures confirmed that it is leading a $31 million Series A round of financing in Ample, which describes itself as “a technology company focused on solving the energy delivery challenge for electric cars.”
RDS isn’t the only one. EM, BP, and Total are all into it also. This is because they are “energy companies,” not just “oil companies.” Their bottom lines roll on BTUs, but they have no problem using ergs, joules, or any other measure.
The cost of electricity is higher than that of petro-energy, so the potential profit margin is also higher, especially if an energy company can get a finger into the means of alternative or personal production.
Alternative energy sources are not yet viable for large-scale production or distribution, yet a small array of “backyard” solar panels could easily charge a hybrid commuter car or electrolytically crack enough water to power a hydrogen ICE or turbine commuter car — things where the activity loss from cloudy days and general inefficiency of the process would have little, or no effect.
So, supposin’ RDS starts making “backyard” solar arrays in China, and sells or leases them to Ample, which then sells or leases them to individual Ureapeeins? Shell is still making bank on selling energy for transportation. If the model is an across-the-board lease program, the shareholders still get paid and the board gets an even bigger bonus as company-wide production costs dive…