Lauren Lister has a nice legs...

Over the past ten, twenty, thirty, maybe even one hundred years, the way the world basically works hasn't really changed very much. People work, they buy things, they buy food, energy, shelter, etc. many go out to eat, take vacations, etc. Income that comes in, goes back out - it keeps people mployed. In my own province, in the very worst of times, a virtual depression with mass unemployment, huge government debt, etc, the place was still busy, people still eating out, buying things, etc. thise with jobs continued on with gheir lives. I think all that really changes is shifts in perception of the world around us.

From 2001 to 2008 the world's economies powered along just fine despite huge underlying problems and a massive buildup in questionable quality leverage and still the mass psychology was that everything was just fine and everyone was focused on the upside. "Ignorance is bliss." Essentially it was as though everyone was merrily crossing a frozen lake without thinking about how thin the ice beneath their feet was becoming.

All that the events of 2008 and '09 did, was to reveal just how thin the ice really was. Cracks and loud noises and a few drownings woke everyone up.

So now though, it's just so weird that a change in mass psychological outlook can be so globally pervasive that essentially everyone develops symptoms like a kind of post traumatic shock syndrome and now can't think of anything but the downside and simply can move on with life. Instead of getting on with things and crossing the rest of the lake, everyone is staying put, preferring to freeze to death than move on - even though now knowing the ice can be thin gives everyone a huge advantage over the old 2001-2008 scenario. "Analysis paralysis," I suppose. Knowledge and experince is supposed to give people power, but it seems not. It just petrified some people.