By Ronzig the Wizard - http://downbutnotout.synthasite.com

It's time to rethink our socio/economic system and re-invent our society. Neither Capitalism nor Communism is a workable model for the new millennium. We need to invent something new. Most of the work that was done during the industrial age is now automated and the few remaining functions that employed our population during that period will soon disappear. Our ingenuity has allowed us to eliminate most of the tedious tasks of production, yet we cling to an outdated work ethic that declared that each member of society must work hard to survive. This is no longer appropriate. Machines do most of this work.

We must devise an alternative system that encourages people to take advantage of the time that mechanization has freed up. Instead of demanding that people work at jobs that are becoming extinct we should be encouraging them to work at the enhancement of the human condition. More emphasis needs to be directed towards the arts as a desirable occupation. Employment in areas that have been left to volunteerism are now viable as salaried careers. The service industries which historically have been deemed non essential and been allotted minimal compensation are crucial to the new social order and must be compensated appropriately. It is unacceptable to require employees in this industry to subsist on wages below poverty levels.

The concept of money itself will eventually disappear. Our monetary system needs to be re-evaluated. Society cannot endure a system where a limited elite accumulate vast wealth while an expanding percentage of the population is deprived of the necessities of life.

Measuring the success of society based on constant growth when we have reached a point where resources and the planet's ability to absorb the waste will not permit this expansion is outdated. Our socio/economic system is unsustainable and any attempt to cling to it is irrelevant. If we do not voluntarily re-invent our society, it will collapse. Our only option is change. If we refuse, change will be forced upon us with devastating results. The collapse of the social order combined with the collapse of the planet's ability to sustain our demand for growth is inevitable.

Where are the great thinkers and leaders we so desperately need in this transitional period of social...