There currently is much fuss and bother concerning the stockmarket, as well as the USA’s credit rating being downgraded due to its having ridiculous amounts of debt. Anything involving economics tends to make my eyes glaze over with boredom, so this latest has me bemused (yes, I suppose I am naïve). The stockmarket, and the financial system generally, involves trading ephemeral electronic bits of data and is therefore ultimately meaningless. It is more like a quasi-cult that has governments in thrall to it; the system almost has a life of its own and is arguably insane. It is a sorry indictment upon humanity that this utter mundanity seems to be the focus of this current civilization. There is no beauty or grandiosity in it.
I believe French President Sarkozy recently criticized financial speculators for producing nothing useful, but I can’t recall his exact words – a quick search shows that he called for a crackdown on the commodity speculators he blames for spiraling food and energy prices, likening them to the Mafia; something I would agree with, as these speculators are nothing but parasites whose morally dubious trade brings misery to millions.
I can only see total collapse changing this dysfunctional civilization; humans are too chained to the status quo otherwise, and are too afraid to change. It would take a truly courageous political leader to reject the current system and set his or her country out on a new path – and I see no such courage in any politician.
Whatever happens, the sun will still shine, the other (perhaps more sensible) creatures of the Earth will go about their usual daily lives and the natural world continue as it has for billions of years. In other words, none of this financial nonsense ultimately matters, despite the media hysteria.
