2020 Presidential Election

[dark_crystal]

Originally Posted by Martina

What I think we're seeing is the late stage of Capitalism. But something different will emerge. Even if inequality gets much worse, and the super rich arm themselves, etc., I think that something different and more egalitarian will emerge. There is too much information, there are too many smart people, for the one tenth of one percent to continue in power once our very lives are at risk (water rationing, for example).

i really feel like the concepts we have of freedom and liberty, by now several centuries old, become less feasible as the population grows. There are just too many of us now for freedom to mean anything except the right to choices in consumption (capitalism) and the right to harm oneself/others/the planet without government interference (libertarianism.)

The planet is getting too full for everyone to just do what they want. It is too full for every nation to just do what they want. As we get more crowded, we have less freedom, and it gets harder to exercise the freedoms that remain without impacting everyone around you.

We have to redefine freedom as security, despite what Ben Franklin said ("Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.")

The first time i ever understood the difference between joy and happiness was when i read a negative definition of joy-- describing joy as the sense of well-being that arises from the removal of worry.

That is what freedom will mean in the 22nd century, for the 20% of humanity that remains. "Freedom" will mean "food, health, and housing security with sufficient opportunities for creating meaning."