[TheNextOne]

I Just wanted to bring something up to see what other people had to say about it. Surely we've all noticed the how crazy the world seems to be becoming these days (esp. the Western World) with increases in suicides, in stress, in depression, in shootings/mass murders. Yet, ironically it seems that to me this may all boil down to the basic principle of supply and demand.

In a world where just 30-40 years ago, a person with a Masters degree was considered rare and a computer programmer was considered to be fairly uncommon, we now have a plethora of people to fit pretty much every vocation and many people holding advanced degrees, with most possessing at least a Bachelors degree.

This is merely a microcosm of what I'm talking about, which is that with an increase in worldwide population and global competition, it doesn't suffice to just be "average" or even "good" at any particular task anymore. You must now be "brilliant" or "unique" at what you do, otherwise there will always be someone better to take your job.

In conjunction with this (though this is only a hypothesis) I've noticed an increasing number of people feeling a need to define themselves in evermore assertive and eccentric ways i.e. I'm a hipster, I'm an atheist, I'm different etc. It's not that you can't be any of these things, it's that people seem to feel a need to let everyone else know what they think, who they are and how they're "better", as though they're screaming out to a world that can no longer hear them. The very world that hypocritically professes equality while simultaneously ushering in meritocracy. It seems that a number of people are falling through the sieve of said world and are feeling a need to grab a hold of something that will make them feel unique and valuable.

This wasn't commonplace 40 years ago (at least from what I've heard in my country [Australia]) as there was plenty of work and kudos to go around. Now, with the population increasing fast and having passed the point of no return, people are able to set thresholds to what level of skill they're willing to accept for any given task and others are always going to get left behind, almost like an information age "survival of the fittest".

I'm not really personally affected by this, however I just don't find it particularly pleasant and was wondering what other people's takes were on the matter, cheers.

[shezbut]

This is a very deep and emotional subject for me, as I have watched these changes take place (uncomfortably) around me for so many years now!

I agree with the majority of what you've said. I live in the U.S. and have been unable to watch the news for several years now, because of my mental illness(es). All of these horrible stories around the world just trigger chaos inside of me. I have a very difficult time discussing the issues, because I quickly turn to planning the end for myself.

Tough subject....sorry.

[Djinn8]

Yeah it's a mess. I think a big part of the problem is to do with way that most businesses are owned by mega-conglomerates. There's little room for the creativity and drive of the individual anymore. Once upon a time it was possible to conceive of a business idea and put it into motion, but now there is so much competition from such massive and well established industries that at best these upstart businesses are either going to collapse or merely scrape by.

The only option is to sell your services and your ideas to one of these established businesses, adding to their success rather than your own, while simultaneously depersonalizing the employment market. With the rise of globalization and a lack of these small businesses, jobseekers are forced to pit themselves against greater numbers of prospective employees. Skills sets lose their value. Qualifications lose their value. And people are forced to get noticed through bureaucratic means rather than personal qualities and suitability.

[Timgt5]

The west is moving through a paradigm shift at this point. I do not agree that creativity and drive are dead though, in the last few years we have seen things like twitter and Facebook appear from nowhere and are now worth billions.

There is Elon Musk in California who is engaged in multiple revolutions, Tesla (electric cars) Space X (private space travel) Solar City (looking to lower the cost and increase the availability of solar power for houses)

We are on the cusp of major leaps in material manipulation (nanotech) which will remap many things including manufacturing and Healthcare. The traditional 4 year university is being supplanted by on demand learning delivered at a distance.

We are headed to what can be called the third wave of civilization, (the first being Agricultural, the second being industrial) Corporations will shift to a surge approach to workforces, and more people will go the route of entrepreneurship.

It is up to governments to assist in this transition, (not foolishly cling to old paradigm) new protocols and laws need to be written with an eye to the future.

There is a great book about all of this, I highly recommend, called America 3.0. Reading this book has given me a renewed sense of optimism that all though we are going through a lot of turmoil we will survive, it will be different, but we will make it after all.

America 3.0: Rebooting American Prosperity in the 21st Century-Why America's Greatest Days Are Yet to Come: James C. Bennett, Michael J. Lotus: 9781594036439: Amazon.com: Books