Doug Poretz

Exactly How Bad Will It Get?

The economic crisis is not simply the result of economic factors and will not have economic consequences alone. Our current situation is the consequence of cultural and societal factors, including the hyper-consumerism that characterized the American culture. Thus, whereas strange credit and lax credit were economic factors, the willingess of the American public to use that credit as a narcotic, regardless of consequences, was a cultural factor. Whereas the economic consequences of this crisis will be significant, I fear that the cultural consequences, which seem to be unexamined at the current time, will be even more significant. So, when asking: How bad can it get? The answer should include cultural/societal/poli... consequences -- and the prospective consequences should be envisioned in a world interconnected by the Internet, where global coalitions can be quickly created, and the members of such communities can be moved to action 24/7 without regard to language, borders, or social and ethical mores.