World-System Steady State Or Collapse

This page is UNDER CONSTRUCTION . Oct 22, 2026  Cost of living protests hit Belgium, Italy, Portugal and France   Hundreds of thousands of Europeans have taken to the streets in separate, uncoordinated demonstrations to protest against the rising cost of living in their countries. Notes Economy of Belgium  a  highly developed  high-income  mixed  economy.  The Belgian economy has capitalized on the  country's central geographic location , and has a well-developed  transport network , and diversified industrial and commercial base. Belgium was the first  European  country to join the  Industrial Revolution  in the early 19th century. It has since developed a highly-developed transportation infrastructure made up of ports (most notably the  Port of Antwerp ), canals, railways, and highways, in order to integrate its industry with that of its neighbors.   Among  OECD  nations, Belgium has a highly eff...

In a prior post ( here ), I commented that the Political Philosophy of a Steady-State Economy  "remained to be worked out". What I mean by the comment is that when we work through all the popular political philosophies (see table in the Notes below) and end up at  Steady-State Economy  and General Systems Philosophy , we start to run into some contradictions. The graphic above summarizes the problem (there are actually six growth modes that contain the three above--see below). We know the history of Societal Collapse , it has happened before and is obviously not sustainable. We also hypothesize that unstable exponential growth will eventually reach limits on a Finite Planet (the Limits to Growth ) and create living conditions that are not sustainable. Growth Limits, however, are a hypothesis that can't be proven until it is too late. From General Systems Theory  we know that the only way to create a  Steady-State Economy  is by reducing growth rates and ...

  Notes Wikipedia Crisis in Venezuela   An ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis began in  Venezuela  during the presidency of  Hugo Chávez  and worsened under his successor  Nicolás Maduro . It has been marked by  hyperinflation , starvation, [ 57 ]  disease, crime, and mortality rates, resulting in  massive emigration . [ 58 ]  Food shortages and hyperinflation have ended, but inflation remains high. It is the worst economic crisis in Venezuela's history and considered more severe than the  Great Depression in the United States Economy of Venezuela   a  developing   socialist  economy strongly dependent on its natural resources. Its economic growth is closely linked to  petroleum ,   as the country holds the largest crude oil supply in the world.  Venezuela was historically among the wealthiest economies in South America, particularly from the 1950s to 1980s. Hyperinflation in Venezuela...