Happy 2020! There’s a lot going on right now, much of it concerning and part of a greater pattern. As our narcissistic president risks nuclear war in an attempt to distract from his crimes, fires spanning nearly the size of the continental US ravage Australia, showing us what could happen in California as early as next year. And the US government decided to spent $2 trillion it doesn’t have on more guns, pumping money into companies like Lockheed Martin rather than into its own struggling citizens. All this after yet another round of tax breaks that failed to stimulate the economy and simply made billionaires more billions while putting the country ever-further into debt. But people are finally catching onto these patterns and saying, “enough with the bullshit. Stop lying to us and stealing our futures. Do better.” This is the decade that, hopefully, we do what we would have done in 2000 if Jeb hadn’t handed his brother the presidency.
And if reading this makes you roll your eyes and go “what a liberal,” I’m actually in good (conservative) company with this outlook. I read Merrill Lynch’s 2020’s predictions because I care about global economic trends even if I think a lot of the minutia is uninteresting. There’s a lot in there, but here are the two paragraphs that stuck with me, as they are such a departure from the way financial institutions were talking a few years ago.
“That still leaves hundreds of millions of people facing problems such as hunger, poverty, inadequate housing, and lack of access to clean water and health care. And the entire world is grappling with climate change and other environmental issues requiring concerted action. “If the 2010s was when fears over climate change peaked, this has got to be the decade of climate change solutions,” says Michael Hartnett, Chief Investment Strategist for BofA Global Research. “Fortunately, whatever combination of renewable energies, new technology and political will that takes, history tells us that people are good at finding solutions to the biggest problems.”
One force helping drive those solutions is a broad rethinking of capitalism. A new “moral capitalism” calls on companies to expand their missions beyond profits and shareholder interest to include supporting their communities, addressing climate change and the environment, and making their workplaces more inclusive, among other changes.”
The 2010’s were all about personal accountability. Don’t worry, guys, there’s still upward mobility! (There isn’t). You should definitely go to college and take out all those loans because you’ll totally get a job after! (You shouldn’t necessarily, and the jobs weren’t there). Climate change is fake; don’t tell me how to run my business! (It isn’t) Reduce, reuse, recycle! It’s on YOU to save the earth! (We can’t make a dent when companies/industries won’t change their ways) Would you like to add $3 to your CVS purchase to help families in need? (YOU fucking donate it, CVS! I’m buying off-brand Advil because I can’t afford health insurance. Don’t ask me to donate.)
Because the world used to be different, people believed (and many boomers/isolated people still think) that if you were without housing/income/healthcare it was due to your making poor choices, being addicted to drugs, etc. Leaving aside that addiction is a disease and pharmaceutical companies intentionally got people addicted to opiates, this just isn’t the world we live in anymore. The zip code where you were born is the biggest predictor of your lifetime income; there is no job security; there are no pensions or healthcare. And oh, by the way, many millennials will also need to support their parents whose finances were decimated by the ’08 financial crisis and never recovered. Parents who will live longer than any prior generation, with more chronic health problems. And entire cities are drowning, burning, or becoming less and less livable
Unchecked capitalism is really good at solving the problems it has created by finding new ways to make money off the new problems. It’s often really bad at actually solving the problems (this is where I kind of disagree with the ML report, but only by degrees). And now these problems aren’t just superficial; we are facing possible extinction. Which is a strong word, but it’s true.
So are you feeling inspired to enter this new decade? Because, honestly, I am. For the first time I’m seeing religious 70 year olds and activist 20 year olds on the same team. I’m seeing a reaction to Trump’s bullshit that shows people are becoming savvier at seeing what is going on through the spin.
Happy 2020, guys. Welcome to a decade where empathy and social contract theory combine with capitalism to create something truly American that actually helps all of us. And libertarians can go fuck themselves.
xo
Anna