We need to transition to an economy that produces and consumes less

As the economy shows some signs of recovery, the divide between the haves and the have-nots remains a problem.

The stock market is back to record highs (not adjusted for inflation, but the Wall Street types like to ignore such things and focus on their Dow Jones type metrics, it's a psych thing), housing is up, Corporations are in great shape (propped up by foreign profits), but the unemployment numbers are barely budging.  Poverty numbers are in shameful territory, the net worth of the middle class has dropped and stayed low, and the social safety net is at risk.

So, what is the real problem, and how do we address it?  Well, I believe that the issue is that we are in a confluence of historic changes in world population and technological advancement.  The technology has improved to make manufacturing more efficient and productive, and thus requires fewer workers to make more products. This means that even if manufacturing makes a major return to the U.S., fewer workers will be needed here at home to produce those products.

Meanwhile, the explosive growth of humanity over the last few decades has put a huge burden on the planet's resources that technology is expected to relieve.  I believe that that is a false hope.  The size of the problem is just too huge.  Humanity needs to transition to a paradigm of lower consumption in order to try to maintain the health of the environment.

The problem then, is that even if we reduce consumption and thus save the planet, we are likewise reducing demand for products putting even more people out of work.

Economists get a lot of press (or whatever the digital equivalent term is) analyzing the economy and prognosticating the best ways to grow the economy and get people back to work.  But, if we succeeded in the ways that the economists would like, we trash the planet.

This is why I believe that we need to transition to an economy that produces and consumes less, shares the bounties of technology more, decreases the disparities of income and wealth, and favors lower procreation rates to save our planet.