Pessimism and predictions

I want to elaborate a bit on why optimism isn't so popular and things I'm predicting for 2012 (just for fun, much like all of what I've written).

I ended the last post with a mention of two different worldviews: glass half-empty, glass half-full. So first, why is optimism not the clearly dominant way of seeing things? It has to do with a change in Western culture (arguably, all the world) in the 20th century. A movement known as modernism. Basically, it was born from the despair of the world wars, the end of religion as a pillar of society (and along with it a perceived degradation of morals). So no wonder people weren't jumping up and down about society in the future. We had also finally acquired the capacity to wipe just about everything from the face of the earth. This after a stint of totalitarianism (which is based on the idea that people are not to be trusted and are dangerous/useless unless they are part of a rigid and all-encompassing, somewhat arbitrary whole).

If that wasn't scary enough, the two countries with the largest capacities for destruction didn't like each other much. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, please read a history book. Or watch Rocky&Bullwinkle like I did.

So that explains where it started, but why's it going on now? Modernism died and become post-modernism/contemporary (which was like the "B&T:Bogus Journey" to Modernism's "Excellent Journey" in that it was even crazier and a bit funny but still bizarre) which also died.

So where are we now? Well, we're still living mostly on the legacy of modernism. Pessimism can be associated with feelings of victimization (things are shit now, so why expect things to get better?) And now, more than ever, people feel like victims of a system that just doesn't care. A possibly nasty side effect of government wasting time, money and resources at the expense of their people. And because a lot of things today don't feel "human" enough as they are based on making a fixed profit or based on quotas (which can give the impression that some/most people are better and are included in more things). The feeling that encompasses all of this is that our lives are still petty, despite the promises our parents had that they would be living a dream life of endless prosperity and world peace.*

*I'd recommend watching the part of "V for Vendetta" where Evey is talking about the significance of him blowing up a building and most of what Tyler Durden has to say in "Fight Club" for some well-phrased, complementary discussion on the topic of the reasons for our pessimism. I could also recommend a lot of modernist literature/art like Yeats' "The Second Coming",Camus and simply looking at Guernica (with the present in mind) but movies are easier to understand for today's increasingly visual media appetites.

Cultural indications are that a new surge of optimism and break from what may be causing pessimism is here or coming. Maybe we should pull a George Lucas and call it pre-modernism.

ON TO THE PREDICTIONS.

One: Perhaps President Obama's inaction is a political strategy. Something like Pragmatic procrastination. It got the Republicans to get even more fervent (but also created a divide). It created a mood of lost hope, which could be easily assuaged by implementing popular policies late into the term. I'm predicting he will get re-elected if only because of a failure from Republicans to come up with a suitable candidate, but Obama can help himself by putting his Consumer protection agency into action (not just sitting around) and by allowing for more transparency from public company donations to campaigns (which he currently has a giant opportunity for).

Two: Marriage equality in the United States will continue to expand.

Three and four applies to the next few years: If current trends continue, the protests will get bigger.

Four: A "Robin Hood" style tax will be implemented.

Five: Either famines and food prices will increase or the food system will be changed by land reforms and policies allowing people to grow food in the Global South.

Six: Once the U.N. changes leadership (or perhaps even before) it will become even more critical of world affairs and criticize policies that prevent real development.

Seven: The next election in Quebec(Canada) will be very important and will probably mirror the results of the federal election (more % of votes to the right and left with a possible unstable majority).

Lastly, this is more of a warning than a prediction. But Canadians, and in fact, inhabitants of any U.S. ally, should be watching the U.S. election with great anticipation and a certain degree of worry. Because only one of the Republican candidates has sworn off going to war with Iran without being provoked. And one of them, who wants a "Strong" country, wants to go back into Iraq. Oh and who do you think will follow the U.S. into Iran? Yeah. And then Peter MacKay will be able to reprise his role as the star of the hit Soap opera called "Canadian politics"

HUGE PARANTHESIS (because his new wife is Iranian and does not support foreign intervention in the country, because she would rather the country change from the inside. She is an activist working to stop the regime executing minors. It sounds like such a good cause it's hard to find a better one. She's a pageant winner, so she's often played off as a Pamela Anderson type, but don't let that speak for her: even if she's probably half Bill O'Reilly's age, she provided infinitely more reasonable and intelligent commentary than I have ever seen from him. Just goes to show experience does not necessarily come with age. END OF HUGE PARANTHESIS AND END OF POST