On 6 March 2016, I watched another episode of Backlight, a Dutch public TV documentary series. In that episode Professor Gerald Gutenschwager stated (> 45min) that “we need to have people who think morally about what’s happening, not just economically or scientifically, but morally. We have a moral crisis”. To a large extent I agree with him.
Unfortunately, it is not just a moral crisis. The current crises (plural) affect each and every side of the 7 Belief systems.
We have a crisis in Religion (terror in name of Islam), a crisis about Money (eg, greed, haves and have-nots), and about Politics (eg, deadlock in EU and USA, a push from mid to extremes).
And let’s not forget the other crises: Science (human engineering), Truth (opinions are more important than facts), and Philosophy (morals).
And last but certainly not least, Hate is more and more visible in each segment of our society. And Love is in need of love today (a beautiful song and video by Stevie Wonder).
This pressure on all sides of these 7 Belief systems will create a balloon that may burst in the foreseeable future. The various grassroots movements as shown in the Backlight TV episode are indeed helpful. Unfortunately, we always differ of opinion about the direction, speed, and timing of such ‘change’. Consequently, any effort is usually small and/or short lived.
I am worried what or who will deflate this pressure in all of the 7 Belief systems. It is interesting to note that the original – etymological – meaning of the Greek word ‘krisis‘ was the “turning point in a disease”. In other words: A crisis – by definition – announces change. The direction of such change (eg, death or recovery) is yet unclear.
On 5 March 2016, Jeremy Grantham (GMO) gave an interview to the Dutch equivalent of the Financial Times. He predicts that a 3rd asset bubble will burst in 1-3 years from now, after the 8 November 2016 US Presidential election. This third crash will be much bigger than the 1st (dot-com, 2000) and the second (2007-2008) and will result in a “bloodbath“.
The current economic crisis is far from over. I just noticed a graph which I also used for a 2007 internal presentation at a bank.
Back then some people were curious but hardly anyone was interested in such predictions.
I suppose that Lao Tzu‘s words still rule: “Those who have knowledge, don’t predict. Those who predict, don’t have knowledge”.
My blog’s motto however is: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.
Roger Hodgson (ex-Supertramp) – Fool’s Overture (1977) – artist, lyrics, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
[Churchill’s famous speech]
“We shall go on ’til the end,
we shall fight on the seas and oceans.
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
We shall never surrender.”
History recalls how great the fall can be
While everybody’s sleeping
The boats put out to sea
Borne on the wings of time
It seemed the answers were so easy to find
“Too late,” the prophets cry
The island’s sinking, let’s take to the sky
Called the man a fool
Stripped him of his pride
Everyone was laughing
Up until the day he died
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