Apocalypse (Part 1)

Economic Collapse vs the End of the World

This short mini-essay is the first in a four part series which suggests that our banking system is due for a collapse. And since that system is originally of Renaissance-vintage, we could be in for a Renaissance-like transition. There are some interesting historical symmetries to buttress the point, and it had an optimistic outlook overall. Read it to find out more!

The realization that our economic system is in a state of collapse is finally about to dawn on us. It took hours for passengers on board the Titanic to comprehend their unfolding tragedy. To stave off panic, the crew lied to them about the unthinkable truth. So the band played on and the lights burned warm and bright long after the fate of the ship was sealed. We’ve been living in the same tense, eerie twilight between disaster and comprehension of disaster since ‘08, when our metaphorical ocean liner struck its iceberg. And just like on the Titanic, those in positions of power and influence still carry on as if nothing is amiss. But the truth can’t stay hidden forever.

The truth is that economic systems have life cycles, and we’re at the end of one. It’s been a miraculous 600-year run since the days of the Renaissance. That’s when our way of life, organized into employers and employees, arose to replace a collapsed Medieval system of lords and serfs. Today’s vibrant global economy with its city lights, jetliners, and mobile phones would have seemed like magic to the denizens of that Medieval world. Their system had to die in order to hand off the baton to our modern system. And now the next hand-off is long overdue. As Chaucer wryly observed on the eve of the Renaissance in The Canterbury Tales, all good things must come to an end. 

The folks who lived during the death spiral of Medieval society had no idea that a superior system would arise to take its place. They could only assume the apocalypse foretold in the Bible was at hand. But we can avoid following them into despair by understanding that, over the long haul, even the broadest systems rise and fall. There is a silver lining to the dark clouds piling up on our horizon. Unlike the passengers on the Titanic who only had the one ship, we will have the opportunity to construct for ourselves a new and better system to carry us into the future.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s sequel, where we discuss more about the nature of this upcoming collapse.