I think we are suspended in that moment between the Crash and the Rebirth. The Crash was inevitable. It was coming for a long time. There was much pain and anxiety stirred up in its wake. And really its happening fast, then again its kind of happening in slow motion. Or its happening fast, but our realization of its effects are slow in coming. It might take years or decades for us to really understand what happened.
And the Rebirth is starting now. Its a feeling, an idea, a wisp of a cloud of an inkling. The Rebirth would not be possible without the Crash. They are Soul Mates. We want and need this Rebirth although there are surely some big surprises in store for all of us. We desperately wanted Change. The world demanded it. And like a Tsunami it is coming. We will surely get more than we bargained for.
The new thing always comes out of pain and blood. The spanking new world begins with a cry. The new infant always looks like a wrinkled old man. But it is new life. The story takes a new turn. The worm turns.
John Robb at Global Guerillas starts to map out what this new world might look like, and "Middle Class Consumers" may turn out to be a very grave insult!