Our system of government is breaking

[peggysue2]

42. Thank you, Hortensis

Well stated and without hysteria.

Yes, things in the country are dicey right now but no one I know is giving up and Mueller's probe--after many, many obituaries--is rolling along and sweeping up more nefarious actors, those who would bring us down to their sea-bottom level. As a Nation, we've been in moments of crisis before and we've managed to weather the storms. I see no reason to doubt that we won't weather this and come out stronger as a result. Not in the same old, same old but in something new and even more resilient. Because we have been warned this time. In the strongest way possible.

Is it an era of stress and high anxiety? Yes. The entire world is in flux and with all great societal shifts, new perspectives of looking at the world, ourselves, our very existence while handling evolving economies, demographic changes and lifestyles, there are discombobulations. The Industrial Revolution is a fine example, as you pointed out and it, too, caused major dislocations and 'the sky is falling' attitudes. This time, what we've been facing has happened in lightening speed, making adjustments all the more difficult.

Ready or not, we're on the cusp of another revolution: global, technological, knowledge/information-based as our advances in computer science and robotics make a huge, startling leap forward while equal advances in nanotechnology and genetics turns the world we once knew upside down. There's no putting the genie back in the bottle.

We have a choice: we can welcome the change with cautious optimism, confident that the problems we face are solvable and/or can be mitigated for our survival and that of future generations. Or we can hide under our beds.

But change will come, one way or the other because it's a constant--everything changes. Scary? Sometimes. But as you point out: the past can provide a roadmap, a helpful guide.