"(The elites) are trying to steal as much as fast they can on the way out the door"

[ljm2002]

6. Yes, I agree, that is part of it...

...although sadly, their idea of leveling the middle classes means pushing the middle class down to a much lower level than we are used to here in the US, rather than raising up the middle classes elsewhere. At the same time, the elites become more and more piggish, hoarding the wealth and living like -- I can't say kings, I can't say emperors, because really, never in history has anyone lived the way our top elites live now.

Anyway, I agree that our lives must become more sustainable. We could start with manufactured goods, and go back to making things to last rather than creating things to discard. Our current economic models mandate the throwaway culture, and that of course is the very definition of not sustainable.

There are so many ways we could be addressing the issue of sustainability rather than what we are doing. But I think you are 100% correct, that is part of what the idiot elites think they are doing, and it helps them sleep at night.