From bad to worse

We are currently at a flash point in the world. The US in particular is experiencing rampant gun violence, mental health and drug issues as well as increasing poverty while the top 1% continues to amass wealth at a breakneck pace. It's like sitting on a powder keg.

This is a decay period before things need to be remade which happens to all countries at some point in their history. Even my own Canada is experiencing a less extreme case of the same malaise as we adjust to a new reality which necessitates that the old power structures either be dismantled or at least reshaped to reflect our new needs.

As we very rapidly shifted away from resource and blue collar dependent economies into technology driven ones in the 1990's, we failed to properly recognize how people would be impacted. Now some of those left behind are suffering under the weight of stagnant wages and rapidly disappearing job prospects. Third world countries now produce the goods in the types of factories that once employed them.

None of this is easily repairable and it will take time to reshape society such that those left behind to not fall prey to despair. Because once that happens on a large enough scale, the ensuing chaos will overwhelm what is already a bad situation.

January 6th was a bellwether for what ails the masses and even if those people represented the highest rung of the ill informed, their desperation could not be ignored lest it worsen.