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World Societies in Decline

( Size: 30" x 20.75" Oils )

This painting represents the situation of a breakdown in communication, anti-social behaviour, family breakdown, hostility, supremacy and none co-operation in the world today. We the Western Nations have set the standard of the First World, those whose criterion fail to reach this standard are classified as "Second" and "Third" world countries.

Decline Take and analyse the pacific rim, Asian, Japan and Indonesian economies, they are teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, which in turn will have a knock-on effect and will reverberate world-wide. The monetary systems are extremely fragile, once they freefall there will be "Chaos" a meltdown of world stability. The human scale of tragedy, deprivation, starvation and death will be incalculable.

Subjects in the painting:

The "Tunnel" in the painting represents that everyone on Earth is travelling along the same "Path" and if we do not change our present policies, we are on the "Path" to oblivion !

The painting as you can see has three derelict levels of a house/building representing the above scenario, collectively, they represent the whole of mankind.

Running parallel, are exposed beams, one in the shape of a cross, thus giving an underlying flavour of belief, religion, control.

The "Acorn", "Egg", "Bee", "Strawberry", "Winged Fruit", "Spider", the "Broken Pot", the "Man swimming in the Clouds" and the "Thorny Tendril" are all symbolic to the plight of all creatures on our fragile planet.

E.W.Powell, 18.7.98. Painting completed 1991.

Complexity comment:

In comman parlance 'Chaos' means out of control, disorder. Within the complexity field, Chaos refers to a system containing so much feedback that the slightest error can cause a massive change of properties. This unpredictability is typical of the world economy and the stock markets today. With global communications, the connectivity between dealers and investors in all parts of the world has become super-critical, leading to domino effects and follow-my-leader fluctuations of world markets. Stability is fragile in such systems.

Planning in chaotic situations is worthless, since all plans assume a background of stability on which to operate. Money however is merely a form of intermediary, the people, goods, processes throughout the world are all unchanged. By giving supremacy to a mere tool, the real values of the planet are obscured. The value of money in itself is zero. If we choose instead to value tangible assets, the world is found to be, again, stable...

Feedback comes in two forms. Negative feedback creates stability, it returns the system to a previous state. Positive feedback creates growth, an exponential change of state. Neither alone is ideal. By combining the forms, as is done in complex systems, we obtain a balance, a useful mix of stability and change, evolutionary potential...

Page Version 1.1 October 1998
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