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Before long, America's old civic order will seem ruined beyond repair. People will feel like a magnet has passed over society's disk drive, blanking out the social contract, wiping out old deals, clearing the books of vast un-payable promises to which people had once felt entitled. The economy could reach a trough that may look to be the start of a depression. With American weaknesses newly exposed, foreign dangers could erupt." -- The Fourth Turning -- Strauss & Howe
Trust in our government, financial, corporate, media, and religious leaders have never been lower. We are entering Phase 2 of this Crisis period. When the foolish self-serving actions taken by the government in the last year fail to revive our economy and the inevitable stock market crash and deepening depression take hold, Americans will become more disillusioned, angry and looking for someone to hold responsible. There are 236 million Americans of working age in the U.S. today according to the BLS. Only 138 million of these people are currently employed. This means that 41% of Americans who could be working are not, the lowest level since 1983. At least one quarter of all Americans who want to work are either unemployed or underemployed. What happens when this gets worse? Many intelligent non-ideologue Americans such as David Walker and Ron Paul realize that politicians have promised Americans more than they could ever possibly deliver. The coming Depression will make it clear that those promises cannot be honored. Foreign adversaries will sense our economic weakness and push the envelope. With domestic weakness, our myopic political leaders are likely to create a foreign crisis in order to distract the public's attention. War is the inevitable result. The military industrial complex will push hard for conflict as it will continue to enrich themselves.
"War against a foreign country only happens when the moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it."
-- George Orwell
Doug Casey describes the likely scenario:
"Wars start for all kinds of reasons. But tough economic times probably rank number one as a cause. The 1930s were a natural overture for the "40s. Politicians like to find a foreign enemy to blame problems on. Theft of foreign resources can seem like a good idea. And part of the economic mythology fabricated by the malevolent and repeated by the ignorant is that WWII cured the last depression. Will there be another 9/11? It's a good bet, but there's no way it will involve airplanes; the 50,000 zombies employed by TSA serve absolutely no purpose except to accustom Americans to being treated like prisoners. One possibility is the surreptitious placement of one or more nuclear devices in U.S. cities. As Pakistan disintegrates, their nuclear arsenal may fall into quite irresponsible hands. Or, perhaps, devices could be procured in a number of ways from Russia, India, Israel, or North Korea. Another, much more likely scenario is a repetition of what happened in Mumbai recently. A small force of dedicated and well-armed operatives could create unbelievable havoc in a U.S. city or in several at once. And probably will. Americans just don't appreciate how little people in the Islamic world like having aggressive, blue-eyed teenagers kick their doors down in the middle of the night, among other pranks."
EVERYBODY LOOK WHAT'S GOING DOWN
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Buffalo Springfield -- For What It's Worth
