The Post-Work Society Is Not a Future State. It Is Here. Right Now.

[nebris]

...from "The Hipcrime Vocab": In which 'escapefromwisconsin' not merely refutes the various claims of The Austerity Mafia, but completely eviscerates them and then outlines - in detail - a whole raft of positive solutions to the present 'crisis'...

I - Where the Workers Are Going.

One of my blog posts that got a bit of attention was this one-What if a Collapse Happened and Nobody Noticed? In that post, I pointed out that waiting for a collapse was a rather foolish proposition because it is already happening. The problem is, people tend not to see it because it does not conform to certain preconceived notions of what a collapse "should" look like-notions fostered by Hollywood rather than by history, including shelves empty of food, dry gas pumps, ATMs unable to dispense cash, and chaos and rioting in the streets.

Also, the unevenness makes it hard to detect. Gasoline was indeed rationed - but only in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy. There are still plenty of suburbs, but total miles driven is slightly down for the first time ever, the average age of cars on the road is at an all-time high, and many of those homes lie empty and deserted. The pumps still dispense gas, but you're paying more for it without a corresponding raise in salary. Some areas are gentrifying and gaining population, whereas others are virtual ghost towns. There is indeed mayhem and civil war in the streets - but it is in Syria. There are indeed deactivated ATMs, but they are in Cyprus. An unknown wag coined the term Detroitification, and I think I will co-opt it. Like a spreading mold, it's coming to a town near you.

We humans are designed by evolution to respond to immediate threats, but slow-motion catastrophes simply do not register or generate any source of alarm. Another of the underlying themes of this blog is to remind people that it is indeed happening, but is subject to what I'll dub the Gibson Principle - the future is already here; it's just not evenly distributed. If you look closely, though, you'll see the subtle signs everywhere. See for example - California water managers despair over snowpack, and FAA to close 149 air traffic towers as budget cuts bite. If every single one of these towers ever reopens, I'll run through the streets naked.

Just as I attempted to gain notoriety by being the first to actually predict collapse, I will now predict the date of the arrival of the post-work society. It is right here, right now. [con't below]

Part I: http://hipcrime.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-post-work-society-is-not-future.html

Part II - The Other Wards of the State: http://hipcrime.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-post-work-society-is-not-future_7.html

Part III - Corporate Welfare: http://hipcrime.blogspot.com/2013/04/part-iii-corporate-welfare-of-course.html

Part IV - A Modest Proposal: http://hipcrime.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-post-work-society-is-not-future_8.html

Part V - But, But, But...: http://hipcrime.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-post-work-society-is-not-future_10.html

Part VI - The Alternative: http://hipcrime.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-post-work-society-is-not-future_997.html

Part VII - Conclusion: http://hipcrime.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-post-work-society-is-not-future_11.html

Part VIII - Charts: http://hipcrime.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-post-work-society-is-not-future_6596.html

Some Additional Notes: http://hipcrime.blogspot.com/2013/04/some-additional-notes.html