In this week's Off the Cuff podcast, Chris and Charles Hugh Smith discuss:
- Broken Markets
- When all signals are false, how does one invest wisely?
- The Decline Of Culture
- A fundamental crisis within Western society
- The Decline Of Civilization
- We are on a track to repeat history, and not in a good way
- Crafting A New Narrative
- What should a more functional society aspire to?
Among the obvious targets in this week's financial shenanigans, Chris and Charles make time to opine on the multiplying shortcomings of our culture. More and more signs abound that the rules that act as the "glue" holding civilized society together are fraying and cracking.
As society becomes more out of balance, with a growing divide between the 'haves' & 'have nots', between the powerful and the peons — between the 'us' & the 'them' — people under stress are increasingly lashing out in destructive ways. But who can blame them? As behavioral science shows, cornered animals will strike at nearly anything as their last options for safety are removed.
Chris and Charles see an erosion of our social fabric happening now as wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of the 1%, as power is concentrated within the police/surveillance state, as earning power is stolen automation and outsourcing, etc. Under our current social narrative, we feel pressure to work that much harder in attempt to obtain our 'piece of the pie' — a piece that gets smaller and smaller.
by cmartenson 
