Is the Future Depressing?

[lufttiger]

Been doing some looking into this for alot of reasons, i found this artical that
was written two years ago by this guy, very scary stuff.
But he's been hitting the mark here.


US depression, Greater Depression - Money Week

So what do you do? ignor this? or try to plan for it?

Because i believe its coming guys.

[cyberia]

I don't know LT. Stuff like this has been around for a few decades now and pop up every time we hit a bump in the economy. Recessions are the normal ebb and tide of any economic structure.

Is a massive depression possible. Anything is possible, but at this time I think unlikely.

[Geek44]

I'm with LT on this. I also think that an economic depression will be the least of our problems too. I sometimes wonder if having kids was the right thing to do. I look at society as a general thing and it fills me with all kinds of emotions. It seems we're building a 'culture' () based around the worship of wealth and celebrity, mindless consumption of rubbish we really don't need, mindless consumption of finite resources and millions of people spending their free time getting wasted in various ways. In other words 'mindless'. There are vast numbers of Westerners who don't read anything. Fuel prices soaring...many won't be able to afford to run cars soon...that's going to make people unhappy. Something's gotta give. There are millions of people who think the world owes them but make no contribution (however small) themselves. We seem content to be lied to every day by politicians whatever their leaning. It's nowhere near good enough. The Egyptians built the pyramids, what the hell are we doing? Buying cosmetics and trying to lose weight because it's all about how we look.

[cyberia]

Nick, your a good friend and I agree with all you say above, with the exception that doom looms. Every generation faces its own challenges. However somehow, someway, people survive, families are raised and life goes on.

I was raised in the 60s. AKA "The Eve of Destruction". I went to grade school and practiced "duck and cover" drills. I remember when at least once a week a young man in a crisp uniform would stroll our Brooklyn streets with a sad rhythmic tap, stopping at an address to hand the deliver to some family the worse of news. I remember watching on TV as a young girl needed to be escorted by armed National Guardsmen, just so she could attend school.

Some things have changed. Some have not. But, here we are.

Sure, we may be in for some rough times, again. But that's life and option B is no option at all.

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by cyberia

Nick, your a good friend and I agree with all you say above, with the exception that doom looms. Every generation faces its own challenges. However somehow, someway, people survive, families are raised and life goes on.

I was raised in the 60s. AKA "The Eve of Destruction". I went to grade school and practiced "duck and cover" drills. I remember when at least once a week a young man in a crisp uniform would stroll our Brooklyn streets with a sad rhythmic tap, stopping at an address to hand the deliver to some family the worse of news. I remember watching on TV as a young girl needed to be escorted by armed National Guardsmen, just so she could attend school.

Some things have changed. Some have not. But, here we are.

Sure, we may be in for some rough times, again. But that's life and option B is no option at all.

I'm only a few years younger than you Paul, and I also remember those things. The duck and cover drills - as if they would have protected us from nuclear fallout. But everywhere you turned was a "Fallout Shelter" sign.



When was the last time you saw one of these?

In my lifetime we put a man on the moon and we actually have succeeded in eradicating smallpox. Malaria and polio are mostly preventable. The cold war stayed cold. Insulin was first isolated in the twentieth century and now pancreatic tissue transplants are allowing some type I diabetics to lead relatively normal lives. Maybe these things don't make the cover of National Geographic like the great pyramids but still they are important contributions to the sum total of what we are.

[cyberia]

There was actually a thriving cottage industry for private bomb shelters and fallout provisions.

There were cartoons for children with a little turtle who lectured on how to throw one's self to the curb and cover your head if you saw the flash of an A Bomb.

Shoulder length hair was "probable cause" for police to detain and search you.

And Jim, remember those ominous looking things they whipped out for polio vaccinations. Scared the hell out of me when I was six. Even more than the turtle.

[Jim O]

Ahhh... the good old days, when I slept in stifling heat without an air conditioner.

There have always been doom and gloomers. How many doomsday cults were certain that the world would end at the turn of the millennium? Will there be ebbs and flows? Yes. Will things ever be the way they were? Not likely. Time only moves in one direction.

[MAGNA]

There are always times when things don't go as we would hope. Whenever things are good there are always those who say bad times are coming. Many do so to make money by selling books about it. The Millenium Bug, the planets lining up.... I call it weather forecaster syndrome. Keep saying it's going to rain and eventually you will be right.

House prices have gone up dramatically in Australia for a few years now. One organisation has said they will fall by as much as 20% in the coming year - that's bad - until you find out they said it two years ago and two before that as well. Why ? Because they are affiliated with a property development and management firm - it is in their best interests to make people worry and try to cause a dip in the market - again - all to make money.

Churches have a problem in good times. Less seats are filled. But when there is a downturn watch the places fill up again in a real hurry.

Sometimes you need to heed the words of the Great Sage - Forrest Gump - "It happens".

[cyberia]

Then there was Y2K.

[Tom Houlihan]

I think one would have to define "doom and gloom." We all have an idea of it, but where does one draw the line between reasoned dire predictions, and "doom and gloom?" I got this e-mail today, and found it rather interesting.

We know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an immigration overpopulation conference in Washington , DC , filled to capacity by many of America 's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor by the name of Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, "Mexifornia," explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The American Dream.

Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America

The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States . He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.'"

"Here is how they do it," Lamm said:
"First, to destroy America , turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country. History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put itis way: 'The histories of bilingual and bicultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy.' Canada , Belgium , Malaysia , and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence . Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, Corsicans and Muslims."

Lamm went on:
"Second, to destroy America , invent 'multiculturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. Make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal; that there are no cultural differences. Make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.

"Third, we could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: 'The apparent success of our own multi-ethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentriy and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.' Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to en sure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."

"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."

"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority plation."

"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precet. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia , threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" -- From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of the 'Unum,' we will "Balkanize"< B> America as surely as Kosovo.'

"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits. Make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-cultum, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America , it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."

In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally he said, "Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's book 'Mexifornia.' His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America . If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."

There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America Take note of California and other states. To date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery, " and "Ignorance is strength."

Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American Dream.

It might be "doom and gloom," but in general it does seem to resemble the empire of the Caesar's.