People also engage in a great deal of spiritual exploration , most of which perpetuates the practices and teachings of classical traditions such as Buddhism. Living Lightly is an attractive but not likely future that requires the combination of both an economic and a technological slowdown. And when the movement turns violent , the global arms trade is right there to make revolution possible. The original theoreticians of devolution, mainly Western intellectuals of a neoromantic bent, painted a picture of a utopian return to communities, ancient ethnic identities, local economies, and traditional spirituality. But to their surprise and great dismay, their ideology is seized upon with even greater enthusiasm by religious fundamentalists, ethnic nationalists, racists, and neofascist paramilitary groups.
Devolution proves highly contagious .
Some of these groups establish viable nation-states, but others find themselves continually harassed by internal tribal or regional separatist movements. Group rights prevail over individual rights everywhere , successfully squashing the intrusion of the mass media and global popular culture. The collapse of global communications systems drastically slows the progress of scientific research and the diffusion of technologies. This is, in many ways, a world without boundaries . The standard cultural identifiers of the modern and early postmodern eras no longer play a major part in people's personal or political lives.