Of the nature of waves

Wind waves are one of those phenomena which suggest such a huge variety of concepts that are an unfathomable source for metaphors. Either if you're a poet, a journalist, a politician, you'll find the concept as a most useful tool; wave of change, wave of emotions, shock wave, ride the wave, heat wave..., it's so open a concept that I can't help using it too.

Shallow Water Waves

 When analysing the real shape of the trajectories that water particles follow in their motion, it's pretty curious to find that each one has a double movement: something akin to a circle in a vertical direction, but with a translational back and forth movement in a horizontal direction (two steps forth, one step back). It has to be noted that, the deeper the position, the smaller the circular motion becomes. The movement is finally reduced to a mere oscillatory movement, slow follower of the wind direction. When the waters are deep enough, total stillness reigns in the depth.

Deep Water Waves


And let me set here my analogy:

The horizontal axis is Time, and wind is Progress, either by scientific knowledge, by exchange of experiences of by creation of new philosophical or religious theories.

Depth is the variety of social environments in a society. The closer to the surface you are, the more exposed you are to influences, may it be education, commerce, social media, travel, migration, etc.

People "orbit" in circles around their own political/religious/social believes, but are dragged at the same time by the horizontal movement of progress. The closer to the surface, the more exposed they are to evolutions in thought. Each thought family evolves along time, moving forward with time, yet moving around their own varying dogmas.

In a "SHALLOW" society, the exposure to influences of any nature is easier (or at least possible) for all members, even those more isolated or less educated. Tradicions and ideas evolve, pushed by the wind of influences in the most open minded strata of society. Even the most traditional segments of the social body are dragged by the most evolved ones, and all the water body advances.

In a "DEEP" society, though, the exposure to influences is just impossible for many members of society. Although great (or small) parts of the people are exposed to evolution, they cannot carry with them the society as whole, and their own evolution is very limited.

Sisyphus

This might give us a good explanation of the nature of the western "decadence": most rich countries have been keeping their high standards of living by means of debt, just that easy. As huge borrowers, they are in the hands of others. This does not only refer to public spending, which always seems to be the greatest concern, but also private debt, held both by households and companies.

The terrific conditions that have been maintained in the US, Japan and EU in the last decade, giving the debt a condition of virtually real interests-"free" have boosted the speedy indebtedness. This has driven these regions in a risky territory, where any lack of credit availability after maturity of previous debt would make much heavier the load of interests on taxpayers, and would reduce the profitability of companies and also the familiar disposible income. The circle is closed, the consume falls, the aggregated demand falls, and the whole systems is caught into a downward spiral.

Now, how can that be stopped? The burden of debt is so huge in some countries that its reduction would remove such a quantity of resources from the economic cycle that would (and it's actually doing so in more than one place) sink the country into a permanent crisis with little or no hope of prosperity in the coming future.