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Blogs by Arthur Jackson
Capitalism in the 21st century 3/5/2007 8:43:54 AM
New challenges for humanity in the future. Can we cope? As we move into the 21st century, it is clear that Capitalism will provide new challenges for humanity. The system will continue to facilitate the spread of technologies and ideas, which in some cases may provide stresses on human societies that we have never before seen. It is projected that China will have 500 million cars on the roads of that country with in the next 25 years. If there is a similar increase in India, South America, and Africa, will they be sustainable? We must look with clarity into the future of Capitalism in the face of growing population pressure. Is there an upper limit for the system beyond which stability may not be attainable? Global projections of the population show that it will reach ten billion by 2050. The impact of three billion more people seeking access to global markets and to standards of living based upon today's model may not be practical. There is always the argument to be made that technology will find a way to accommodate these people. Yet given the pressures exerted upon human culture by Capitalism and its need to balance the system, this appears to be problematic.
Beyond the purely theoretical, we must consider the purely practical. Water, energy, and food are the three most critical commodities for existence on this planet. To date, governments have made accommodations when these commodities were in short supply. Will that continue in the future? What happens in sub-Saharan Africa if continued cycles of drought accelerate and intensify? What will happen in China when there are three billion people in that country and the water supply is so contaminated that it cannot be used for human consumption? What will happen in India, which is quickly moving to pass China in terms of overall population, when water supplies create food shortages for that growing population? These are not just issues which affect Third World countries. In the United States in the Pacific Northwest, states have had to curtail further development in some areas because of a shortage of water. If the unintended circumstances continue, will we see further effort by governments to divide the world into the perpetual poor and the privileged wealthy?
