The Universe is Ruthless and Demands Balance - The Pendulum Will Swing!
Everything in nature, the economy and society seeks balance. When something reaches an extreme, it self-corrects in a furious and violent way. Should this frighten or comfort you?
Any extreme will revert back to the mean, usually overcorrecting itself in the process. The problem is that those transitions from one extreme to the other are seldom peaceful, natural, and without spilling buckets of blood in the process.
When I look around, all I see is frightened faces. Everybody seems anxious about the future, quoting dark prophesies and unfavorable possibilities. Yes, bad things can happen, but I see no point in allowing fear and pessimism to consume us. Here’s my reasoning in five basic premises:
I have no control over these things, so there is no point in worrying about them.
One’s happiness doesn’t depend on outside circumstances; it’s internal. Focusing on the problems you can’t change will do nothing more than make you miserable.
Everything is about different perspectives, and I can never be sure that mine is the right one. I simply do not have enough information.
I believe myself wise precisely because I know that I know nothing! I can’t trust my senses, ideas, and opinions, and I sure as hell can’t trust the information available.
Every extreme in human society and nature eventually balances itself out, one way or another. Everything changes all the time; nothing stays the same.
Today’s article is about the certainty of the pendulum swinging back and forth for eternity and why we can find understanding and solace in it.
It’s also a warning from pushing things, ideas, and agendas to the extreme because it comes at a price. A price of violent overcorrection!
Nature always seeks balance, and in nature, everything constantly changes; it’s all cyclical.
From space to the microcosmos all around us. The natural world has a built-in system for self-correction. When things deviate too far from the norm, particularly at the extreme end of the spectrum, they tend to swing back in the opposite direction to restore balance.
I believe it will be no different with our society's biggest problems—a belief based on our collective history.
Take climate change, for example, the big boogeyman of the 21st century.
If you analyze the past few million years on our planet, the patterns and alternating cycles become apparent.
We have periods of high global temperatures followed by periods of low temperatures.
There are years of high CO2 levels in the atmosphere and years with low levels.
Ice ages come and go every few thousand years.
The water level rises and falls.
Desert turn green, and they go barren.
It’s all just a part of interconnected ecosystems and their balancing act.
On our planet, everything tends to self-correct over time. It has a built-in mechanism that seeks balance. This has been happening for millions of years and will continue to happen, with or without humans.
In nature, everything is constantly changing. Humans are the only ones who seem to have a problem accepting this fact of life and suffer immense anxiety because of it. When fighting the wind, the wind always wins.
Instead of trying to fight nature, would it not be wiser to lean into adapting to the changes quickly and effortlessly? Learn to surf the waves instead of trying to flatten the sea.
It’s important to understand that change is inevitable in the Universe and our lives. Expecting otherwise is unrealistic. It is madness. You can find solace and peace in this fact.
Change is coming.
The pendulum will swing.
It’s fascinating to observe how the economy also relates to these principles. Any extreme will inevitably lead to a boiling point, upon which it will reverse course. It’s been happening for centuries, and yet it always manages to catch us by surprise. Let’s take a look at some examples.
Economy, FIAT system, money printing, debt, and capitalism
We live (in the Western world) in a capitalistic economic system based on FIAT money which is not without problems.
The first problem is a constant need for perpetual growth and expansion of the economy.
Our economic system is like a giant pyramid scheme - without new money, products, and markets, the expansion slows down and eventually stops, leading to the collapse of the entire system.
Therefore, for this current system to continue, we must, by design, either keep increasing productivity, open new markets or find new buyers.
Alternatively, we can devalue our currency, making an illusory appearance of growth.
If we stop, we have a collapse on our hands—a crisis and, if nothing is done, an economic depression.
There are small and large cycles spanning from a few years to decades, where the economy expands from renewed demand, a fresh inflow of money into the system, and rising debts. At some point, it overextends and reaches a top where debt servicing is impossible, demand drops, prices collapse, and we enter corrective periods. Recessions or contractions.
Things have now gotten out of hand, as the cycles aren’t allowed to play out anymore. Politicians and central bankers ignore this economic reality, favoring populism before rationality. We press forward by printing more money, devaluing our currencies, and artificially keeping the wheels of the economy spinning.
It’s not a real solution but a mere bandage postponing the problem for future generations. Someday, we will have to pay that price.
The pendulum will swing!
The economic disparity continually increases with capitalism creating two distinct classes of people and countries - the rich and the poor.
In a free market economy, people have the freedom to pursue their interests and passions. However, this can create an unequal distribution of rewards, with only the most successful individuals benefiting greatly. Winners take it all, leaving nothing for the losers. Socio-economic programs try to mitigate this to an extent, but it’s a losing battle. That is not the problem of the rich but a systematic property—a feature, not a bug, as it were.
I’m not criticizing capitalism. We have yet to find a better system.
I’ve lived through socialism, communism (a mix of the two), and now capitalism. Every system has certain strengths, but they are all deeply flawed. Thus far, this is by far the more successful of the three. Quality of life, though, can be a matter of discussion, but not for this article.
When a society becomes divided into wealthy elites and a struggling majority, and the hardships faced by the majority become unbearable due to the current system, a revolt of the people is inevitable.
When we have nothing to lose, we find the courage to overcome our fears and allow rage to replace reason. Rivers of blood, mass murder, riots, and violence usually follow until a balance is restored.
We are already seeing the shift in people’s public and political opinions moving from pure unrestrained capitalism toward a more socialist, regulated, restrictive form of economic policies and systems.
Cries for socialism are getting louder and louder as the capitalist system naturally puts more people on the threshold of survival. It doesn’t help that it also produces big winners, billionaires, millionaires, and all sorts of powerful people who now tower over the majority.
People see this and believe themselves to be the victims of an unjust system, enraging them and leading them toward a system that would punish and prevent such outliers, equalizing everyone. Since we’re so quick to forget history lessons, we’re bound to repeat our mistakes.
The pendulum will swing!
Money printing is used as fuel for economic prosperity and growth.
This printing of money from thin air, just to put a bandage on a much more serious problem, will eventually run into a wall. This wall has a name - hyperinflation.
We’re not there yet, but inflation (ignore the official numbers as they are bulls***) has already made life extremely difficult for the people in the lower part of the food chain. Once we get there, though, it is the end of an era of prosperity and the start of something else.
We always find a way to bounce back, us humans. The problem is that transitions are anything but pleasant, even if they don’t involve us directly murdering each other.
It would be much wiser to take the first pain, as it were, and take on the least damage because if we force the issue to an extreme, the consequences will also be extreme.
Instead of a few banks going under, the whole banking system can collapse.
Instead of a minor adjustment in BDP, we’ll be witnessing a severe economic downturn.
Rather than a slight increase in the unemployment rate, we end up with lost generations wandering the streets with knives in their hands.
We can only push something so far before the course is reversed in the worst possible way. The longer we wait, the further we push, the bigger the price we will eventually pay.
Either way - the pendulum will swing!
The green agenda has been pushed too hard and too fast, completely ignoring reality.
What seems like a good cause, a just cause, is achieving the opposite effect. People would generally choose a cleaner and better option if it were equally as good as the other possibility and if they weren’t coerced into it. Forcing their hand, handicapping the economy, production, and energy grids because of an ideology we are clearly not ready for isn’t helping.
Making people’s lives harder, more expensive, and more miserable under the guise of protecting the planet will never help cultivate a more eco-friendly mentality.
It will only turn people against these ideals. Rushing with regulatory pressures and illusionary ideas that have no foundation in reality also won’t bring about a lasting change.
What happened in Germany when they foolishly turned off Nuclear power plants because they weren’t green enough (which is nonsense)? They reverted to Russian oil.
What happened when that option was taken away? They’re reopening coal mines and plants! The direct opposite effect from the desired one.
What will happen when you massively turn to solar power, dependent on China, and something goes geopolitically wrong? Lacking any self-sufficient solutions, we will not freeze to death, nor will we shut down our factories. We will revert to technologies far dirtier because we will be forced to! This is inevitable.
If we push beyond our good intentions too quickly and aggressively, we risk undoing the progress we’ve made and facing severe consequences.
The pendulum will swing!
Social justice, equality, discrimination, and racism.
Humanity has a dark history. From poor treatment of women, child labor and exploitation, slavery, racism, nationalism, religious wars, governmental atrocities, gulags, genocide, burning at the stakes, you name it - we’ve done it all.
For the most part, we have made a lot of progress. Objectively speaking, life is much safer and more comfortable today than ever before. People have more rights, and there is more equality and understanding for marginal groups. These are things we can be proud of.
It’s disheartening to see how people were treated in the past - how poor treatment of fellow humans was considered “normal,” accepted, and widespread. One would think we have evolved past that, but it’s only an illusion. Every once in a while, there comes a situation where humanity reveals its darker side.
This past few years, with Covid 19 and vaccination propaganda, was an eye-opening experience.
A few months of fear-mongering, government propaganda, and media pressure have turned ordinary people into monsters. Not quite the devouring flesh kind of monsters, but that is never far away.
In the blink of an eye, friends, coworkers, and family members were deemed unclean, dirty, lesser humans with no rights! Sounds familiar?
They had no right to shop, eat outside, or move around in their own country, much less travel abroad.
They were denied basic medical care and access to education.
They were fired from work, ostracized, and marked for destruction.
Families have broken up. Children have been taken away from their parents.
Friends become enemies.
All because some people were afraid, and some weren’t. Because some people believed the government bulls***, and others have seen through their lies.
In a moment, two classes of citizens were created yet again—one with all the rights and the other with none.
We will never know what would have happened if it were allowed to go any further. Luckily we were spared this bloody calamity, but it was a close call. Darkness descended upon our civilization, and the majority seemed oblivious to it all as they have been throughout history until it was too late.
True colors were revealed for everyone to see. The governments were all over this, marking half their citizens as unworthy of the most basic human rights. People went along with the narrative they’ve been fed, from medical personnel, companies, and even your closest friends and family members. You instantly knew who was who and where they would end up in certain dark situations of our collective past. Those that are exempt from comparison. The veil of the illusion had fallen, and my friends, there will be consequences.
The pendulum will swing!
What that swing will look like, I don’t know. Things can quickly unravel once people lose trust in their fellow humans, scientists, governments, media, and everyone who was supposed to be their ally; in everything that held society together.
It feels like we’re hanging on by a thread, and all it takes is the wrong spark, and the flame of human rage, intolerance, fear, and the capacity for senseless violence will be unleashed yet again.
Among all the problems of our age, this is the biggest danger. Humans reverting to their more basic nature, civilizations either falling apart or dark forces taking over the populace armed with modern technology, giving them power like never before.
I don’t know which scenario is more frightening—anarchy with maddened people out for blood or totalitarians with complete power over their people.
A lot has been done to diminish racism and nationalism in the world.
However, it can never be erased entirely, as humans are naturally afraid of anything new or different.
Lately, things have been pushed too far again. Racism has again reared its ugly head, only this time, it’s pointed toward the old oppressors. You can call it what you want, but it is still discrimination and racism.
You cannot compensate for the racism of the past with a new form of racism. It doesn’t work this way. Equality, yes. Preferential treatment on account of race, no! Regardless of the race in question.
Break this rule, and suffer the consequences. Anger will build up, revolt will follow, and blood will be spilled.
The pendulum will swing!
It’s a good thing that differences among people are accepted more openly.
That gays and other previously marginalized minorities are considered equal in our society. That they no longer have to hide who they are. Being different doesn’t mean being “less” anything. But again, this goes both ways.
Now they have preferential treatment, which has brought some unpleasant consequences. I see things daily on social media that make me sick and ignite rage in my heart. Lines are being crossed when children are involved!
That is, again, taking a benevolent concept of equality and acceptance too far. We have not managed to stop when the balance was restored.
No, we had to push further, stuffing these ideologies down everyone’s throats and expanding them beyond reason. I get it, it’s inertia, but keep pushing, and something will break. It always does. The community that was supposed to benefit most from these ideologies and policies will end up suffering again. And when things break on a societal level, things get ugly fast.
The pendulum will swing!
In Europe, low natality is becoming a serious problem.
People simply aren’t having enough babies, and the consequences are already starting to show. The worst part? Nothing is being done to mitigate it.
There aren’t enough people for the needs of the industry. The economy would already collapse without an import of a few million people every year (coming from the East).
Soon, we will have countries full of older people needing care and no young ones to support or pay for them.
Unless something changes quickly, there are a lot of countries all over the world that will fall into economic and, following that, into societal decline.
For this very reason, European policies have been so open and inviting to immigrants and refugees.
They need more people, especially young, strong people, to maintain the status quo. So they “import” them. It sounds like a good idea, but not at any cost or without dire consequences.
European culture and that of the Middle East aren’t compatible. Neither are religions, politics, or social norms. That leads to tensions and problems. Problems that, if not properly managed and addressed head-on, can end in disaster!
There are signs of trouble all over Europe- ghettos full of immigrants and rampant crime: rape, robbery, and murder are on the rise in unprecedented numbers.
The safest countries of the past are becoming the most violent and dangerous to live in (Sweden, for example).
Calls for ending immigration are getting louder.
Nationalist political parties and movements are already gaining massive support.
People are getting fed up with the problems of such a reckless immigration policy and selective tolerance for crime.
Social unrest is knocking at Europe’s door as we speak.
It would be lovely if humans could live together in perfect harmony, respecting each other’s differences and beliefs, in a coherent utopia. I so wish this was possible. Alas, it remains precisely that - a utopian idea, not reality.
I’m sure it’s not impossible to solve this problem, but it is a complicated issue to crack. A lot of effort, energy, dialog, and cooperation will be needed to find a good path forward. The time to act decisively was yesterday! It might already be too late.
Ignoring the problem, which everyone seems to be doing in Europe, will end in disaster. It is not unreasonable, and it is not intolerable to acknowledge that we have problems. It doesn’t mean Europeans aren’t willing to let foreigners from other cultures into their midst; it just means that active management and extreme caution would be advised when it is done at such a massive scale.
What happens when these two cultures clash for supremacy within one country?
What happens when people become afraid to leave their homes?
What happens when people who suffer no consequences for their actions (the protected minority) hurt their loved ones?
People will take matters into their own hands. Radical politicians and ideologies will find their footing, and blood will overflow the European streets again. Future historians will cry and ponder if it could have been prevented.
The pendulum will swing!
The pendulum always swings back from one extreme to another.
There is comfort in this knowledge, but there is also a warning against pushing things to the extreme in the first place.
If you know there will be a point where the momentum shifts and a course is reversed, and you realize that the force and distance of that opposite swing will be comparable to the initial extreme deviation from balance, you would be more careful to prevent things from escalating too far.
I have laid down some challenges we are facing today. We have our work cut out for us.
I am not afraid of these issues getting out of hand because I know that nothing lasts forever and that things will eventually balance themselves out.
What I am not looking forward to, though, are the transitioning periods.
Nothing ever transitions from one extreme to another peacefully, harmoniously, and without the blood of the innocent being spilled en mass.
Therefore, it is much wiser and more productive to have these conversations, deal with the problems head-on and seek balance instead of giving in to the seductive call of overreach.
The pendulum usually swings in our personal lives as well.
“This, too, shall pass” is an excellent mantra to remember. Everything is in a constant and perpetual state of change and transmutation. If you’re in a good place, know that something bad will come sooner or later. Nothing lasts forever. So don’t get too attached to anything and learn to flow with life. Enjoy what has been given you, but don’t cling to it.
If you are suffering, depressed, or in a middle of a challenging episode in your life, know that this, too, shall pass. The sun always comes up after even the darkest of nights. But some of these changes won’t come effortlessly, nor without pain.
It is often darkest before dawn, my friends, and that is true for all things. But the dawn will come. The change will come.
The pendulum will swing!
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