Shift Happens

By | April 15, 2007
1 Comment

Here’s an interesting video. It starts out with some potentially startling demographic statistics, and then ventures into some fairly familiar Speculist territory.

By the time we get to the end, the “shocking” demographic facts seem to have stopped mattering altogether. About midway through, we see a reminder of how quickly and thoroughly national prestige and influence can change on the world stage. But I don’t think either of the nations mentioned near the beginning of the video will become the new dominant powers. At least not for long. They will almost certainly be eclipsed by something like the rapidly growing “country” which is mentioned later.

And then entities like that will be eclipsed by something else altogether.

  • MDarling

    Nationalism is obsolete, but just doesn;t know t or acknowledge it becase the next thing ahsn’t come along to squish it out of the way.

    Once upon a time, there were no “countries”- not like we think of them now. There was the guys you lived with and around and others. Some guys affiliated into villages- but there were stil others. Then a really forceful village that could impose their will on their neighbors did so while they could. Then Emporers. Royalty. Feudalism.

    Rome gives way to chaos on the perimeter and collapsed under it’s inability to convince “others” to identify as Roman or submit. Likewise Spain. France. The Ottomans. Persia. (I’m sortf of blind on Asian history- Ghengis Khan, China, Japan, India- not that differnt memetically)

    Then it was loyalty to a Nation- patriotism. Still us and others. But global corporations have transcended the nation in many ways- and itch to transcend the rest. LIkewise the uber-wealthy whose wealth is not tied to patriotism.

    Labor generally doesn’t have the same liquidity- though they try. And the question becomes nationality or ethnicity? or something else? What defines “us” in a way that uniquely and completely identifies “others.”

    FWIW- I hope it’s not race, gender, sexuality, language, height, age, wealth, beauty nor many other things.
    I’d hope for something more …intellectually useful and …sustainable.