How Doom & Gloom Disappeared with the Protoevangelium
Posted on September 10, 2012 by Brother of Sorrow
Anyone who is familiar with my writing at The Automatic Earth will know that I am no stranger to uber-doom and uber-gloom. The crises we humans face as a species are unprecedented in history, and, no, that is not an over-statement. History is full of natural disasters, slavery, bloody conflict, mindless terrorism, civil wars, international wars, genocides and the general human depravity that accounts for many hours in many days of our lives.
Yet, now is a time unlike any other. We exist at a scale of global civilization in which the consequences of all depraved acts of human beings have the potential to metastasize like a cancer throughout all segments of humanity. Perhaps the most well-known example of this fact after 2007 is the global financial crisis – a handful of greedy and ruthless bankers exploited the system, issuing reckless loans, packaging them into mind-boggling products and deceiving others into investing with them, with the aid of corrupt public officials.
The exorbitant salaries and bonuses of these bankers and high-level corporate executives came at the expense of the entire global economy, and every saver, worker, taxpayer, retiree, etc. that was unfortunate enough to find themselves existing within it. We have yet to see the full extent of economic, political and social destruction that such depravity will heave on humanity. And that’s just one example of a systemic crisis that threatens to consume us all… there are many, many others.
So what if I told you that in this year of 2012 – typically associated with some sort of apocalyptic transformation in Western culture – was the year in which I realized just how GOOD we all have it? I ended 2011 worrying about just how badly people will end up suffering over the next year, but I started 2012 figuring out just how blessed the human species has been from the very beginning.
(full post at link above)
Posted on September 10, 2012 by Brother of Sorrow
Anyone who is familiar with my writing at The Automatic Earth will know that I am no stranger to uber-doom and uber-gloom. The crises we humans face as a species are unprecedented in history, and, no, that is not an over-statement. History is full of natural disasters, slavery, bloody conflict, mindless terrorism, civil wars, international wars, genocides and the general human depravity that accounts for many hours in many days of our lives.
Yet, now is a time unlike any other. We exist at a scale of global civilization in which the consequences of all depraved acts of human beings have the potential to metastasize like a cancer throughout all segments of humanity. Perhaps the most well-known example of this fact after 2007 is the global financial crisis – a handful of greedy and ruthless bankers exploited the system, issuing reckless loans, packaging them into mind-boggling products and deceiving others into investing with them, with the aid of corrupt public officials.
The exorbitant salaries and bonuses of these bankers and high-level corporate executives came at the expense of the entire global economy, and every saver, worker, taxpayer, retiree, etc. that was unfortunate enough to find themselves existing within it. We have yet to see the full extent of economic, political and social destruction that such depravity will heave on humanity. And that’s just one example of a systemic crisis that threatens to consume us all… there are many, many others.
So what if I told you that in this year of 2012 – typically associated with some sort of apocalyptic transformation in Western culture – was the year in which I realized just how GOOD we all have it? I ended 2011 worrying about just how badly people will end up suffering over the next year, but I started 2012 figuring out just how blessed the human species has been from the very beginning.
(full post at link above)
