Downward Mobility and Life On the Margins

October 16, 2023

by Charles Hugh Smith Of Two Minds

We can anticipate a sharp reduction in conventional financial security in the next decade as the waste is growth / Landfill Economy runs out of cheap materials to throw away.

There are many pathways to life on the margins of the economy and society. Let’s consider three:

1. Our character and upbringing leave us unable to fill the work slots valued by employers. Constitutionally incapable of fitting into the conventional slots, we find our way to (or end up in) the margins. (I raise my hand here.)

2. Opportunities to lock in the security of steady work that can support a family are scarce in one’s locale, class, caste, etc. Most people are thus relegated to life on the margins.