Entropy, or Why the World as We Know It is Dying

in Debt economy Gold New Gold silver US Dollar by admin — March 10, 2010 12:33 pm | no comments

The concept of entropy is one of the most useful terms for understanding just about everything. While it has its origins in natural law — thermodynamics, specifically — the concept holds true pretty much across all closed systems. In the simplest of terms, every closed system will ultimately degrade toward a state of maximum entropy. I’ll use the current political system of the U.S. as a convenient example. When American democracy was first shoved out of the nest by the founding fathers, it was new, fresh, and energetic. It took the world’s breath away at its boldness and unlimited promise, and set the wheels turning on tangible change across much of the world. Before the ink dried on the Constitution, however, the degradation began. From the beginning, the country’s political operations fell into the hands of a strictly limited number of parties, which quickly coalesced into just two. Since then, they have essentially shared power, with only minor differences in policies between the two. Simply, absent a disruptive external force, the closed political system quickly matured into an institutionalized “sameness” that all but assures no serious challenges — leading, ultimately, to the certainty it will degrade to only a shell of its former self. It was, perhaps, because of his own understanding of natural law that Thomas Jefferson was heard to remark, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” That doesn’t mean I am advocating revolution — just pointing out the fact that any closed system, no matter how well constructed, will degrade. To expect the United States of America to avoid this fate is to expect the impossible. Switching to a corporate example, I used to be a regular buyer of Toyota cars. They were well made, innovative, and suited my changing needs over the years. And I wasn’t alone — in 2007 they became the world’s largest automobile maker, with a global manufacturing and distribution system that made them appear dominant. Behind the scenes, though, entropy was at work. In 2008, when the time had come to lease a new car, I reflexively headed over to the local dealer fully expecting to drive off with yet another Toyota, just as I had done several times over the previous decade or more. But as I walked around the showroom, it was impossible not to notice that the company had lost its edge. The cars on offer were not only more expensive than the competition, but even the newest models had that “so yesterday” look about them. Surprising even myself…