Survival__ Structuring Prosperity for Yourself and the Nation - Charles George Smith [3]
Perhaps my worldview has made me overly skeptical of the rewards offered by the "American Dream" of debt-based consumption. I sense not limitless joy but a powerful divergence between the promised fulfillment and the reality of a society plagued by insecurity, declining integrity and loss of meaning, an over-medicated culture suffering from poor health and rampant drug abuse (legal and illegal), and a society harboring a peculiar penchant for resentful denial and adolescent fits of pique, rage, entitlement and self-destruction.
As an alternative to this highly profitable but doomed-to-disappoint definition of "prosperity" and "happiness," the goal presented here is what I term full spectrum prosperity. Simply put, much of true prosperity cannot be measured by rising GDP or other financial statistics. In this sense, it lies beyond the understanding and reach of the status quo and indeed of economics.
Since I hold no rung in the status quo other than moderate-income taxpayer, I am not beholden to any academic, State or corporate powers. I am self-employed and need not meet with any academic approval, assuage any political authority or satisfy any corporate publisher. I do not expect a lucrative publishing contract and am not seeking one. I don't expect anyone will buy the "pay the author fair value" version of this work though I do hope the free version gains wide distribution. I have no interest in appearing on TV or radio or in the mainstream media. The ideas speak for themselves and thus have no need for a spokesperson.
As a final note, I want you to know this book is not "dumbed down" in any fashion. Highly abstract, difficult-to-describe concepts are presented full-strength; no punches are pulled for the sake of increasing the audience or easing the challenges such a comprehensive book presents.
My goal is to provide an integrated understanding of why the devolution and insolvency of the U.S. economy is not just a possibility but an inevitability. But rather than feel the despair experienced by the status quo at this prospect, I am energized by a new understanding of prosperity and security based on the founding principles of our nation. This understanding is beyond the tired boundaries of "liberal" and "conservative" or indeed, of any ideological labels.
Much of this analysis might be familiar to you, or it might be entirely alien. In either case, I hope to change your understanding of our nation and our world's potential for sustainable prosperity.
I do not claim to provide solutions or answers per se, but I do present a framework which arises from this analysis like water from a spring. If this book furthers our collective discussion on the coming transformation, I will consider it a success.
Key concepts in this Introduction:
Plutocracy (rentier-financial Power Elite)
Integrated understanding
Windfall exploitation
Over-reach
Simulacrum (synonyms: sham, facsimile, counterfeit)
Full spectrum prosperity
Chapter One: An Overview
A great clash between what we are told is unfolding and what is actually unfolding lies just ahead.
The status quo "Powers That Be" and its mainstream media repeatedly insist that:
• We have abundant cheap energy for a long time to come; shortages or permanently costly energy is decades away. We have plenty of time for technological wonders to arise and replace petroleum.
• The Social Security and Medicare entitlements promised to all Americans, though totaling some $50 trillion in excess of projected tax revenues, will be paid; all that is needed are modest policy adjustments.
• The current financial meltdown was unexpected and could not have been foreseen; it is a temporary "bad patch" which has already been fixed by government intervention and modest policy/regulatory adjustments.
• Public and private credit and debt can continue expanding three times