The Stasis of the Nation

Recently, I've been contemplating what I consider to be the biggest
questions, questions about the nature of our society and where it's
going. There's so much that I don't know that I hesitate to make my
thoughts public. But thinking my ideas may have some value and the
written word being my only medium of influence, I decided to write this
essay.
In the past three-hundred years, our society has undergone an
unprecedented technological transformation. We moved from the minor
technologies of metal and mechanics to the powerful technologies of
electricity and computers. Meanwhile, many of the social changes that
unleashed this transformation continued at a steady pace. In the West,
Christianity ceased to be society's organizing principle; although
Christianity has re-emerged as a political force, it's hardly the same
creed as that which imprisoned Galilleo or even that which was carried
across the Atlantic on The Mayflower.
Technological and social change have moved so quickly that it's
impossible for any one thinker to determine just where we stand or even
if we've benefitted. However, I'll try to point out a few of the
deepest, strongest currents. I'll focus largely on American trends but
many of them are taking worldwide, in slightly different forms.
Our economy is largely devoted to the creation of luxury products.
When I say luxury products I mean those which, even when given a
liberal evaluation, do not serve a practical purpose. For instance,
think of all the labor and natural resources that goes into the
production of white bread, which has a negative nutritional value,
containing nothing and requiring energy to digest. Atrociously, the
diet of much of our population could be similarly described. This is a
plague that keeps on giving because not only is the production wasted,
our work-force is handi-capped by poor nutrition.
And this is only an example of where our economy goes wrong. We pour
our lifeblood into the production of products such as fancy cars,
expansive lawns, holiday cards, figurines, pet accessories, stately
furniture, in-efficient housing, etc. It's not that I think none of
these things should have any place in our economy but an economy
centered around their production is... uneconomical. If you ask an
educated person what they think the prospects of our human tribe is...
they will typically give a pessimistic reply. And yet they recoil at
the suggestion that our economy be stringently reformed. Yet were they
to see an actual tribe with similar prospects: dwindling natural
resources, etc., behaving in the same way: burning forests as tributes
to idols, trading needed furs for gawdy beads, etc., they would call it
all a great waste.