The American Constitution included the phrase "enlightened self-interest", perhaps the founding fathers' warning against unbridled greed. But then, as a new millennium dawned the selfish excesses of Enron and a host of others demonstrated systemic flaws. The barometer of capitalistic success, the stock-market, plummeted.

In the new century's first decade, Greed again raised its ugly head. This time it had spread to more Americans than ever before. Savings vanished and credit became rampant. The dotcom mania was replaced by the housing boom. Fuelled by fresh visions of instant wealth, the American Dream became home ownership for all.

The government kept borrowing from China and others to finance an unpopular war "off the books". Banks began inflating their loan-to-asset ratios to astronomical levels, making "liar-loans" and selling them off as mortgage-backed securities and derivatives. It was Greed under another guise.

Futurist John Peterson writes: The problems we now face are structural; they're systemic, a product of how we live, our values, priorities and principles. Without extraordinary, fundamental changes in the way we see ourselves and the world, we will keep getting what we are getting.

The old system cannot be made well again. Government bailouts to get back to "normal" by helping banks to make car-loans and home-loans again, are chasing a myth.

"Consumerism" is dead. Revolving credit is dead - at least at the scale that became normal during the last thirty years. The wealth of several future generations has already been spent and there is no equity left to re-finance.

So, how will we emerge from this mess? My own view is through what our founding-fathers suggested, "Enlightened self-interest": Innovation, Diligence (hard-work), elimination (through high taxes) of all non-value-adding activities.

• Enlightened self-interest
• John Peterson - Vision 2012