The New Blueprint

Oil hit a new record high today, the Federal Reserve cut its outlook for economic growth, and the mortgage crisis continues to threaten financial recovery. Many have sensed that 2008 is going to be a year filled with turmoil. Gerald Celente founder of the Trends Research Institute said,

“America’s going broke and the whole world knows it. Betting that its economy will spiral down and that the dollar will fall with it, foreign creditors are dumping dollars on the market … and even Third World street vendors don’t want to take greenbacks any longer. The further it falls, the less it’s worth. The less it’s worth, the less it buys. In the real world they call it “inflation.” In America they call it “good for business.” ……”

I also believe that we are heading towards an economic collapse. It may not happen like 1929, but we have definitely passed the peak of our neoclassical economic prosperity. The collapse of the American (and global) economy could give us an opportunity to reinvent our communities and economics, but before we receive the benefits of a crash we will have to deal with the risk of devastation. Economic crises throughout history have caused great suffering, violence, death, and cultural disintegration. What history and nature also teach us is that death always brings about rebirth and renaissance. The challenge of the coming years will not be stopping the crash; the challenge will be getting though it without destroying each other and the world while redefining the human experience.

The crashing wave has swelled from a population that cannot be supported by this earth, an abusive working system that has impoverished the majority of the world, a human made ecological disaster, and the repression and manipulation of the human spirit. This will be a hard wave to ride out, but I believe we can do it. If we survive the immediate future with our spirits and world intact, we will have the opportunity to build stable systems based on the mistakes of our past.

Here is some advice so that we can ride the wave to the shore instead of crashing into the rocky bottom:

• Don’t Panic - The unknown is scary, but fear will cloud your thinking and ability to make important judgments.
• Be Adaptable - Our lifestyles are going to change because they are built on unsustainable systems. As the economy crumbles so will systems that need never-ending resources to survive.
• Look For New Opportunities - As old institutions crash there will be a void of services. Be ready to fulfill needs that you can satisfy and accept other people’s services as payment.
• When Corporate Jobs Dwindle, Go Local - We will need people to fix things, grow food, teach, and heal. Don’t worry about not having the money to start a business, do it out of your garage. In the future we can all work out of our homes.
• Learn to Let Go - The more that you are able to let go of, the easier and lighter you will be. Once you are okay with losing your material wealth, you won’t care when the creditors take it. Let non-necessities go- you are building emotional wealth.
• Build Community - Our civilization has been destructive to communities, isolating us in our homes and apart from one another. Turning back to interactive communities will give us support, a wealth of skills, and the human connection of which we have been deprived.
• Don’t horde - If you come into some form of material wealth, share it. This will build good faith in your community and also protect you from being violently robbed.

Even minor adaptations will bring large improvements to our present quality of life. Just think of what we can do from there.

Surf the wave.