Yeah, hasn't he just!

I've been viewing, for some time, recent history & it's likely trajectory over the next decades as a major 'evolutionary' crossroads for humanity.

It really doesn't matter whether one overlays some notion of a God (intelligent 'creator'), super-evolved aliens or whatever…or nothing at all. Any of those are possible, but none is essential.

Humans clearly have the opportunity to use properly (& a great deal more!) our higher brain functions to both modify our behaviour appropriately and solve the resource sustainability problem.

There are two possible paths.

In one we must relinquish violence of any kind & build a world that ensures everyone gets a fair opportunity to grow & fulfill themselves. This one still recognises our evolutionary past but fully opens the way to fulfill our higher cortex's true capability.

The other path is one where we deny our higher brain functions, descend into 'lizard brain stem''survival' violence & destroy both billions of ourselves & much of the planet. The Trauma of which will make physical & psychological survival a 'hell' on Earth anyway for hundreds of years or longer.

I believe there will be no middle options, it's up to us, individually & collectively to become sufficiently aware, self aware & co-operative.

That is one great essay. Thanks for the link, mikehall.

I've been reading Desmond Morris's 'The Naked Ape' recently and had been wondering how evolutionary biology could shed some light on our predicament. I think Nate Hagens has pretty much nailed it there.

Its about Capitalism as he saw it in the nineteenth century and I remember at age 15 it chilled me to the bone. Well the reality seems to be progressing fast. It would seem that the true troubles are only just beginning, Southern Europe is drifting away from the the north, that America's great Black Hope is a sham and certainly no FDR , the rich are managing to entirely shift the burden to the poor and rewrite the story to boot, that the financial elite have learned nothing but more arrogance… the latest bit of the Narrative…is that only private companies create Wealth…. this is pushed again and again on the media and never questioned. Economic Newspeak reigns and as this totally false idea is rammed in to the public consciousness

The hope as always is in the people themselves seeing through this Mierda so Viva Los Indignados!
The Bread is rising.

I'm not sure where to put this, but I urge you all to visit the link I'm giving, read and inwardly digest…

I think all of you will love this piece I've just read by Nate Hagens:

"The psychological roots of resource overconsumption"

http://feasta.org/documents/fleeing_vesuvius/?p=84

I suspect that many of us here, if not conciously & actively searching for it, are greatly interested in discovering & understanding that which most comprehensively +frames+ the +problem+ – that which, rather like the holy grail of a 'Unified' theory (of everything!) in theoretical physics, shows the ultimate source from whence +all+ true, coherent & encompassing solutions may be confidently derived.

The +problem+ I refer to of course is the impending demise of Humanity (& much of Life on Earth along with it), and it's long, brutally messy & painful path we are now, as a species firmly embarked on. Whose various symptoms, early warnings & breakdowns have been discussed or intimated in the pages of these blogs & accompanying comments.

The piece gets to the very heart of the neuro-psychology of modern Humans & relates this with precision to our predicament – whether that pertains to the 'financial crisis', 'ecological crisis', 'democratic crisis' or any other you care to name.

My brain's 'unexpected reward' 'dopaminergic' system has just maxed out! 😛

That last sentence you will fully understand when you've read Nate's essay 😉

Enjoy!

First of all there are no government programs compensating lenders for recovery losses. You are probably thinking of various faux government "loan modification" programs for borrowers. They were a fiction created by the Obama people, just as phony as his promises of "change".

As for "spiking the gun of the bank", forget it. The only way to temporarily stop a sale is for an owner/borrower to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy. That puts a temporary "stay" on the foreclosure process while the lender obtains a "Relief of Stay" from the court, usually based on "no equity".

In your case it seems the owner has already pulled the Chapter 13 trick' Nothing can now stop the foreclosure sale.

Rebecca,

Thanks for the invite back to Ireland. Yes, I sometimes wonder if somebody has not spiked the Irish water supply with Valium.

Yes, the dust bowl cleared most of the Mid-West of its original sod-busters. The agricultural land of America transferred to corporations who bought the small farms from banks at pennies on the dollar, exactly as the new urban landlords are buying residential America today.

Catherine Tate's "constantly surprised woman" should be spokesperson for the economists – youtube vid (1:29):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oER9xKbD2T8

Ok thanks-that more or less coincides with the situation I was told about-the properties nearly all go back to the bank with no bidders.
First of all I should say the property is in good condition. (I have a key and it is protected from vandalism, as it is not in a generally distressed area). we maintained it over the last year as it is part of the condo association and everybody just paid some extra.
i am now getting phone calls from companies who want to 'stop the sale', assert the owners rights and provide some kind of modified loan using government assistance programs which I know little or nothing about. however I assume if private companies can access the procedure for these relief mechanism, so can I.

I am interested in practical ways of spiking the gun of the bank if I can. Is there any way I can do this? Can I intervene on behalf of the owner. The sale is next Thursday so time is short. In effect I would quite like to see the former owner restored. As far as I know she is getting money from a daughter in California to pay rent for another apartment. I cannot see why she can't just have the mortgage paid by the daughter.
Part of the problem is that the owner has 'lost the plot' due to the distress and illness induced by the process of going bankrupt. If you have any suggestions or insights I'd be grateful.

great post and thread