Maybe I've just grown to be a pessimist...
Do I truly think Russia/China represent a changing of the guard? I think the world always changes... it's never static. Empires rise and fall. But to me it appears that certain things remain constant and have remained constant for at least as far back as my knowledge of history goes.
- Serfdom of the people.
- Ruling political class are professional liars and should never be trusted, don't care what face pops up, up there, if it's there, it's a professional liar. That is a simple rule that avoids any unnecessary disappointments (hello Syriza) which by the fact that they are all professional liars, is inevitable.
- Constant stream of threats to maintain the serfdom for the privilege of a ruling class.
Multi-polar world... what is it really? America is an empire in decay, that is a fact. Other centres of power will rise. As sure as the climate of the world doesn't remain the same, the centres of power won't remain the same. But will the fundamentals change? Will humanity truly be free? Will we be free from bondage? Will our technology and our creativity be used to make the lives of people better? Will working hours reduce? Will social mobility improve? Will poverty be a thing of the past? Will spiritual nourishment of the masses make an appearance? Will family units become centres of communities? Will relationship between citizens improve? Will wars for profit and control be a thing of the past?
I don't know... I just haven't seen it happen before beyond a local scale so there is no frame of reference. All I know is that for as long as I remember, the ground above the heads of the average people has been constantly shifting, since time immemorial, but his reality has fundamentally remained the same. The cycle has never been broken as far as memory serves.
The question is what do the masses want really? From their pov, I think this is the order of the day. That's why to me it appears like regardless of what destruction of ruling and order creating structures are brought to bear, the edifice like a living organism, remakes itself in its prior image, as if from a blank canvas.
Pessimism 101. It's sad to think of the possibility that in fact, what happens around us is not through choice, that we have no power, that we are placed in a setting that has a life of its own. The lie is that we have power to change things beyond a surface level. Think of the debilitating effects of the visceral realization of powerlessness, the mind can't cope, it has to come up with a narrative for power, it has to desperately find evidence of personal power or even collective power. Otherwise to be a human being is truly no different than just being any 4 legged animal you see out there, and the mind won't accept it, can't accept it. What power does a herd of buffaloes have to change anything? More pessimism 101. I ask you, what does the evidence show?
The powers of change lie in spheres far beyond our own. The best I could hope for is that the emergence of Russia/China is an indication that something in those spheres far beyond our own is in the process of changing and hopefully there will be a rolling effect downwards that will fundamentally transform our reality so that at least we are placed in a better setting to play out our personal dramas. That however could just be wishful thinking, who knows? Without some incredible birds eye view of the whole structure, there is no way of telling, we are just to far down to truly know.