This Is How A Society Self Destructs- The Sunday Collage

Have you ever heard of the "butterfly" effect or chaos theory? I was first introduced to the chaos theory (believe it or not) as a result of mathematical calculations as they related to horse racing. As different types of horses with different running styles were introduced into a race- the race scenario was subject to change. For example, a race with 3 or 4 "need the lead" front running type horses inevitably means that a closer, or a horse with energy in reserve- will come late and run by all four of the tiring and worn out front runners as each expends it's energy trying to get the lead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory

I found that it was sometimes quite possible to predict a given outcome. Out of chaos, comes order. However, it was still seemingly impossible with any certainty, to determine each race's winner. That is because of the chaos theory. Hundreds, maybe thousands of things, are at play in any given race scenario. Weather, track variations, jockey and trainer intentions, the fitness or health of any given horse, the break or the pace of the race. In an equally matched race what we can't possibly know is everything that gets tossed into the mix prior to and during the race- that will ultimately determine the winner. Or the correct weighting of each ingredient. It is impossible. Millions of people have gone broke trying to do just that.

Think of the United States as one giant race. The chaos theory on steroids. Equally matched human beings all trying to acquire as much money or success as humanly possible. It is absolutely impossible to determine who will succeed (and even define what that means) who will participate and to what degree, and who will not. It is chaos. Completely unpredictable.

Had Bill Gates not emerged the winner of software language- somebody else would have. The invention or software idea became fertile at some given and pre-determined time and thus needed one person to fertilize it. We could very easily say that chaos randomly selected Bill Gates and not the other way around. Had Bill Gates not been available, perhaps died in a car wreck as a youth- chaos would have simply selected some one else. Steve Jobs arguments aside.

At the time the Declaration of Independence and subsequent to that, the Bill of Rights, were signed- we had a framework or boundaries for channeling human chaos. From the late 1700's forward, any number of events have occurred without which we would not currently stand at this moment in time. All of the events of the past 240 years have landed us here. Had we picked our own cotton, rather than imported slaves to do that, we would not have had a civil war, racial hatred, Affirmative Action, the NAACP, the Black Panthers, or controversy surrounding blacks. A few geniuses and lost progeny were undoubtedly left on those civil war battlefields. That is chaos. Who lives and who dies? You are probably here only because chaos allowed it. Thus, we are the sum total of our gained or lost collective experience. That should give you a humbling pause.

This week I was reading about the vast numbers of permanently unemployed people desperately seeking Social Security Disability and getting it. Nearly 11 million people are receiving free money and medication every month for the rest of their lives. Over a million people have applied or have been selected to receive this benefit in just the first 4 months of this year. This is a chaos theory alarm. http://news.investors.com/article/608418/201204200802/ssdi-disability-rolls-skyrocket-under-obama.htm?p=full

Let me be more precise. These 11 million people are never going to go back to work. They are not going to pay taxes. They will not report income that they make outside of these benefits. After two years, they will all be receiving free medical care. And here's the kicker- you can qualify for disability prior to age 28 with as little as 1.5 years of work! Read more here. http://arthritis.about.com/od/disabilityandarthritis/f/SSDIeligibility.htm

Currently, there are 56 million people receiving some form of social security benefit. (this includes the aforementioned SSDI) http://www.ssa.gov/oact/ProgData/icpGraph.html

Forty five million people are receiving food stamps. http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/04/19/food-stamp-rolls-to-grow-through-2014-cbo-says/

The debt clock is closing in on 16 trillion. http://www.usdebtclock.org/

A few years ago, I had a deadbeat friend named Tom that I no longer communicate with. This guy hates to work. He was one of the most self centered people I have ever met. He has had a number of jobs which he cannot keep, a bachelors degree in accounting that more than one girlfriend helped him to achieve, and he has a son he has never seen or paid a dime of child support for. Ultimately Tom applied for and received SSDI based on some bullshit back ailment that he found a friendly doctor and a shyster lawyer to facilitate. What was Tom's real problem? He's an alcoholic, an addict. Rather than get him well, physically, mentally, or spiritually- we are going to spend a half million dollars supporting his alcohol and pot habit for the rest of his life and Tom is smart enough to know how to game the system. He will make plenty of dough on the side.

Social programs will destroy us. By implementing them and then by trying to take them away. That is inevitable. 

So 240 years worth of decisions made by people well beyond our span of control have landed us here. All you need are simple math skills to see that there will be an age of bitter adjustment. I have begun the arduous process of acceptance. I did not create this mess, I cannot control it, nor can I cure it. It was simply chaos with millions of adjustments. I think it had to end this way. The truth is glaringly obvious to a few of us. There is no solution in blaming the liberals, the politicians, the government, or the elite. We will all go down together. The people with power were all selected via chaos theory and their decisions were implemented. I can't even begin to calculate the trillions of things that had to transpire in order for us to be here at this very moment. Imagine one missed shot in the civil war which might have meant the birth of FDR and the beginning of welfare and socialism. Mind boggling.

Read here, especially the second paragraph, and think about what happened to the Romans as it applies to our present day society. http://www.oldandsold.com/articles32n/outline-history-35.shtml

Every horse race has a winner. Everything has a life cycle. Ultimately, our society will implode. I don't see that as a bad or negative thing so much as a necessary thing. How it looks and when it takes place- is simply a matter for chaos to decide.  

















Comments

Greenleaf said…
Well, that's sobering. I'm just realizing a lifetime dream of making my own glass for my leaded windows and I guess I'll have to be content with that. Hope whatever the end is, that it takes a while longer to get here-let me enjoy this for a bit more, mmmk?
MM

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