How long can this go on?

Almost a year ago on 29 April 2015 I blogged about my intuition of an impending black swan event. I ended my blog with these words:
"My intuitive feel of a black swan is a revolutionary change in the social and value system that will address the great divide between the rich and the deprived and mend fragmented societies. I have a feeling it may give rise to a new era, although in what exact form I do not know, but it may be something like the Renaissance that came after the Dark Ages. Perhaps our children will see this awakening".
In the same blog I also had this comment: " The world can not go on depleting the earth's resources just to get satisfaction in possessing that additional consumer product. Maybe the next generation will awaken to this predicament and bring about revolutionary changes to the world's spending habits".

These thoughts recently resurfaced when Bob Geldof, the Irish humanitarian and music veteran delivered a talk in Singapore. He said  " We live, bizarrely, in a world of surplus and yet, people die of want. That is economically ridiculous. It is intellectually absurd and it is morally repulsive." He went on to add "We need to have different models. We can still make money, that's not a problem, but having reduced the idea of human progress to the economic model of growth, we are now just using growth as a euphemism for more of everything".

I am not a deep thinker but am always baffled by this economic model called growth which seems so crucial for employment and the so called well being of the world citizens. Yet it comes at the expense of depleting the earth's resources through fueling the insatiable needs for consumerism. If people stop spending, there will be over capacities, less consumer goods will be needed, production is cut back and people will be thrown out of job. What then is the model that can give people jobs to sustain their livelihood but not through quenching material needs of the world citizens? Already the world over will be facing structural unemployment when jobs creation lags behind technology advancement.

Perhaps a model may emerge focusing on enriching lives though creative and inner pursuits, stepping away from hedonism. If material pursuits is reduced people can afford to work less hours which means jobs can be shared resulting in less unemployment. People will have more time to pursue other creative and enriching activities. Hmm.....sounds too much of an utopia in this world of insatiable desire to spend? Yet we must always remember what we are actually doing as per the famous quote:

 “spending money you don’t have for things you don’t need to impress people you don’t like.”

How long can this go on?