Systemüberwindung

Hegemony is usually understood to mean the one-sided ability to influence others. In contrast to an empire, which actually has formal political control over the affected territory, the hegemonic power merely has the power to influence events. Since the decline of conventional imperialism, hegemony has been revived as the organizing principle of international relations.

“People are pretty much the same everywhere; they all want the same things.”

In the fin d'siecle dopamine hegemony, this is a common suggestion. Seldom if ever do you hear the countervailing point that this is due in largest measure to “want creation” by the global media, due to a “revolution of rising expectations”, and so on.

“America couldn't be all bad, otherwise everyone wouldn't want to live here”, is still another common suggestion. It is far more accurate to state of immigrants to America that a certain kind of person from every other type of culture wants and has wanted to immigrate to America, the kind of person with a certain framework of values, a certain constellation of wants - a certain definite neurotype. Wants unquestionably imply things -- and pretty much only things.

Non-economic migrants have always been a very, very small subset of those who have made their way to America - and non-economic motivations have always been a very, very small component of any mixed bag of immigrant motivations.

The neurotype that wants things, that wants the same things - is the neurotype unfailingly drawn to aggregate with the dopamine hegemon.

Given the distinctly psychological nature of this hegemonic phenomenon, we are faced with an urgent demand-side problem. The demand-side is the controlling variable in the short and mid-term.

Given that the gathering planetary energy crisis is exponential in nature, the neurotype that is expressing the hegemon's values, its media-driven constellation of wants - is THE major component of the failing energy foundations of the prevailing global civilization (dopamine hegemony).

Solar energy and natural resource supplies are fairly well fixed; whereas, the effects of increments of growth in demand have exponential and not proportional consequences.

What will survive the inevitable collapse of dopamine hegemony?