The Crash Course: The Unsustainable Future of Our Economy, Energy, and Environment Read Online Free PDF
Author: Chris Martenson
Tags: United States, General, Economics, Business & Economics, Economic Conditions, Forecasting, Economic forecasting - United States, Economic forecasting, Development, Sustainable Development, Economic Development, Sustainable Development - United States, United States - Economic Conditions - 2009
challenges that wait.
Step one toward creating a world worth inheriting is to become aware of what the problems and predicaments really are. Step two is to deepen that awareness into what we might call understanding . Step three is to craft intelligent responses to the issues as we understand them.
How do we accomplish these things? We begin by changing the stories we tell ourselves. The narratives that we run at the individual, national, and even global levels define the actions we take and what we prioritize.
Here is an example: Up until about 2006, the entire developed world was perpetuating an ongoing story that went like this: Houses always go up in price . As we now all know, that tale is not true, but it was a deeply embedded belief that shaped individual decisions and led even the most sophisticated investors in the world astray. That’s the power of a story. The right narrative can save the world, while the wrong one can be incredibly destructive. This means that we should take the time to examine our current stories and assess whether they are truly the right ones for our era and our set of circumstances.
Some of the stories that we might want to reevaluate include:
“Economic growth is essential (and good).”
“U.S. Treasury bonds are risk free.”
“The rest of the world needs the United States more than the United States needs the rest of the world.”
“Technology will always meet our energy needs.”
There is a very strong chance that some or all of these stories (and many more) will prove not only to be wrong, but, like any false narrative, also highly destructive to hopes, dreams, capital, and prosperity.
We are at an absolutely unique time in humanity’s history, where a sharp corner lies in the road ahead, the traditional controls that we use to steer ourselves will no longer produce the intended effects, and much of what we believe to be true will be proven false. We need to locate these stories and change them, while at the same time supplanting them with realistic, positive visions that will guide the transformations that we need to see.
In most stories of change, there are winners and losers. I want to give you the opportunity to be among the winners. I also want to set the stage for building a more prosperous future for everyone. I believe it can be done. I don’t think we need new technologies, or revolutions, or dramatic breakthroughs in thoughts or ideas; we already have everything we need, save one thing: political will.
But that, too, can be overcome. It begins here between us, in this book, starting with a proper and open assessment of the situation in which we find ourselves. I am confident that together we can indeed create a world worth inheriting.
CHAPTER 4
Trust Yourself
To enhance your use of the lens described in Chapter 2 ( The Lens ), I invite you to adopt another somewhat radical technique: trusting yourself .
Rather than waiting for someone else to hand you an “expert” solution, give yourself permission to rely on your own intuition, research, and experience regarding what is best for you and your family. Go with what you just know to be right. If something doesn’t seem right, however you arrive at that conclusion, it probably isn’t. If you wait for authorities, even trusted professionals, to offer a clear signal that it’s time to take different actions and make different decisions, you will almost certainly be disappointed with the results. It may not sound easy, but if you learn to trust yourself first and foremost, it will greatly improve your chances of future success.
It took me a while to come to this realization, but I finally figured out that my interests were only accidentally and occasionally aligned with those of Wall Street and the numerous purveyors of their products. Conflicts of interest abound in this area and are mostly hidden, so when a downturn
Step one toward creating a world worth inheriting is to become aware of what the problems and predicaments really are. Step two is to deepen that awareness into what we might call understanding . Step three is to craft intelligent responses to the issues as we understand them.
How do we accomplish these things? We begin by changing the stories we tell ourselves. The narratives that we run at the individual, national, and even global levels define the actions we take and what we prioritize.
Here is an example: Up until about 2006, the entire developed world was perpetuating an ongoing story that went like this: Houses always go up in price . As we now all know, that tale is not true, but it was a deeply embedded belief that shaped individual decisions and led even the most sophisticated investors in the world astray. That’s the power of a story. The right narrative can save the world, while the wrong one can be incredibly destructive. This means that we should take the time to examine our current stories and assess whether they are truly the right ones for our era and our set of circumstances.
Some of the stories that we might want to reevaluate include:
“Economic growth is essential (and good).”
“U.S. Treasury bonds are risk free.”
“The rest of the world needs the United States more than the United States needs the rest of the world.”
“Technology will always meet our energy needs.”
There is a very strong chance that some or all of these stories (and many more) will prove not only to be wrong, but, like any false narrative, also highly destructive to hopes, dreams, capital, and prosperity.
We are at an absolutely unique time in humanity’s history, where a sharp corner lies in the road ahead, the traditional controls that we use to steer ourselves will no longer produce the intended effects, and much of what we believe to be true will be proven false. We need to locate these stories and change them, while at the same time supplanting them with realistic, positive visions that will guide the transformations that we need to see.
In most stories of change, there are winners and losers. I want to give you the opportunity to be among the winners. I also want to set the stage for building a more prosperous future for everyone. I believe it can be done. I don’t think we need new technologies, or revolutions, or dramatic breakthroughs in thoughts or ideas; we already have everything we need, save one thing: political will.
But that, too, can be overcome. It begins here between us, in this book, starting with a proper and open assessment of the situation in which we find ourselves. I am confident that together we can indeed create a world worth inheriting.
CHAPTER 4
Trust Yourself
To enhance your use of the lens described in Chapter 2 ( The Lens ), I invite you to adopt another somewhat radical technique: trusting yourself .
Rather than waiting for someone else to hand you an “expert” solution, give yourself permission to rely on your own intuition, research, and experience regarding what is best for you and your family. Go with what you just know to be right. If something doesn’t seem right, however you arrive at that conclusion, it probably isn’t. If you wait for authorities, even trusted professionals, to offer a clear signal that it’s time to take different actions and make different decisions, you will almost certainly be disappointed with the results. It may not sound easy, but if you learn to trust yourself first and foremost, it will greatly improve your chances of future success.
It took me a while to come to this realization, but I finally figured out that my interests were only accidentally and occasionally aligned with those of Wall Street and the numerous purveyors of their products. Conflicts of interest abound in this area and are mostly hidden, so when a downturn
Similar Books
Worn Masks
Phyllis Carito
Never Stopped Loving You
Keri Ford
White Gold Wielder
Stephen R. Donaldson
Because of His Past
Kelly Favor
Crimes of the Heart
Laurie LeClair
Nelson: The Essential Hero
Ernle Dusgate Selby Bradford
Her Rogue Alpha (X-Ops Book 5)
Paige Tyler
Poisoned Pearls
Leah Cutter
Two Ravens and One Crow (Novella)
Kevin Hearne