Ibon wrote:Well, the point should be that regardless of the system of government the elite have always self served their own interests. In time of tightening constraints we can assume this will become more and more the case. The middle class grew only because of the abundance that allowed opulence to spread down into the masses during the ascendancy of energy. In the decline this opulence will shrink back to the historical norm of a small elite once again. This seems pretty obvious.
If this macro trend is accurate then ones personal strategy for oneself and their children is to make yourself less dependent on the institutional structures that will exasperate this growing disparity. Reduce consumption, eliminate debt, increase your personal resourcefulness by learning skills, work on your emotional intelligence to be an integrated part of your community. These are all exactly the opposite of what consumption culture has taught us.
These adaptations to a shrinking middle class are not ideological. And they are not learned overnight. It takes years. Much of this is just common sense.
It will probably involve more of armed groups preying on the weak and then on each other.