One side says we're going to be just fine. We'll spend money we don't have into an archaic, corrupt system that can't sustain itself.
One side says, "DOOOM!" It's the other side's fault. We'll do the same thing, but re-arrange a few things and all will be hunky-dory!! :) LOL
Meanwhile, groups of Americans, are rallying together, some effectively, others not so much, all with the goal of propping up one side or another.
Folks, none of it matters. No tin foil hattery here, guys. A wise man once said, "You know the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats? They're nothing but the opposing arms of the same rapist."
Look at the demographic and economic makeup of the Congress of these United States. Majority of them are millionaires. Even the ones championing the "99% ers". Strange.
Who holds the real reigns of power here in the US of A? Damned if I know, but right now I'm damn sure they know just a little better what's coming. They're afraid, too.
This recession ain't - we are in the early stages of serious Depression. I have said it before, I will say it again. Our government no longer speaks for the people. It is a collection of plutocrats / oligarchs / bureaucrats / kleptocrats. It used to be that the governments of the "West" had a least a sliver of moral superiority over the governments of the Warsaw Pact and third world nations. No longer. Corruption and naked self interest are obvious in our system.
Our economic system (not just America - but the entire global enchilada) is falling apart. The EU is on the ropes. Rumors of printing presses in Munich and Bonn cranking out Deutsche Marks as fast as they can, are indicative that the Euro is pretty much screwed. Greece is for all intents and purposes a failed state. Italy's parliament is so stymied at what to do, that they've taken to fisticuffs. Portugal, Spain and Iceland, all circling the drain. "Globalism" is pretty much thrown in the dustbin with the other "-isms" of the 20th Century.
Another commenter (Jack Spirko) said something to the effect that the current trend in social evolution was trending toward a desired "Star Trek socialism". I agree with that assumption. We'd all love a world where we didn't have to work, unless we wanted to and every need or want was supplied to us at our whim. As any Trekker worth his or her Gold Pressed Latinum will tell you, that future was a) enabled by fantastic technological advancement, b) powered by effectively magical energy sources c) bought and paid for at horrific cost, and d) confronted by a limitless frontier and equipped . In the Star Trek mythos, don't forget, that right now humanity would be just emerging from the aftermath of the Eugenics Wars and setting the stage for the nuclear exchange of 2043 between the Northern Confederation and the Eastern Coalition.
Total cost between 600 million and two billion all told? Gene Roddenberry wanted to put forth humanity into the star with the baggage of the past behind us.
We ain't the Federation, folks. Not by a long shot. We're all still governed by petty greed and desire to impose our will. According to Roddenberry we haven't learned our lessons, and we are far too quick to repeat the mistakes of the past.
So what does the Crazed American think is going to happen?
Economic news is going to get bad - quickly.
- Civil unrest will get worse.
- Then, maybe a nice domestic and or international terrorist incident. That will get everyone's backs up.
- If we're lucky no natural disasters will occur for the next twenty years.
- When the Nanny Police State cracks down, it will be bad and a great number of people will wail and gnash their teeth. (If you doubt that - check out Occupy Oakland - oh, wait, you can't)
- If history is our guide, the next few years / decade will be rough, then it will get really rough, then, maybe some light?
Who the fuck knows? I mean, this is just a blog, that no one reads, written by a guy who went to college (and probably shouldn't have) that no one listens to. Cry for help? Nope. I am secure in my home and in my relationships. I have people that I love and that love me. Therapy? You betcha. I put it out there for all to see. My average is pretty good if you read the old posts.
Who can predict the future with any level of certainty? The insane, that's who. The rest of us can only rely on history and trends as a guide.
I wish there was someone who I could point to as a leader that I could follow. Too bad,'cause I ain't seen one yet. It is said that no "good"people would get involved in politics because of the crap that our modern society and media puts them and their families though. That's the rub, right there.
In a while, folks - and sooner than one might think - the "good" people will HAVE to. For if what transpires is similar to what history says will transpire, it is quite possible that anyone even remotely connected to our current system will not be allowed - or able - to participate in the governance of the future.
I see my part in the Star Trek Mythos. As a child I wanted nothing more than to command a starship. But as an adult I now realize I have to get humanity through the first half of the 21st Century, and into the future of liberty and freedom.
That's a far less glamorous, but no less important job. Such is the cross we all bear. We must strive to give our children and their children a brighter future than even Roddenberry could imagine.
Crazed American, Out.
