I think there’s a couple of things going on. First, those people who are currently on the top of the financial pyramid have a very vested interest in maintaining their position, and they’ll happily dispense whatever dreck they need to in order to keep the game going. Concentrated ownership of major mediamakes this fairly easy.

Second, I think we’re seeing an accentuation of the ‘get something for nothing/free lunch’ meme in our culture. Whether it’s stuff like ‘The Secret’ or some of the silly MLM commercials out there promising thousands of dollars a month for working part-time, people are becoming more susceptible to anything that promises easy money. I think this is a sign of how financial stress is playing on more and more Americans.

Frankly, I think that we’re going to hit the wall at full speed no matter what. The changes we will need to make to avoid doing so are so drastic that most people will just act like ostriches and then be totally flabbergasted when the fecal matter hits the fan.

Gail Tverberg