5 Black Swans That Could Obliterate America's Future

Townhall.com ^ | February 21, 2012 | John Hawkins

[raybbr]

SHTF in 5 easy lessons.

[HChampagne]

These five are in no way as ruinous as knowledgeable people not voting.

[DannyTN]

• "Default on Debt" - Won't happen as long as debt is dollar denominated.
• EMP - hurtful, but nothing we couldn't bounce back from quickly, unless there is a coordinated war launched, and we refuse to fight.
• Nuclear Weapons - We lost New Orleans to Katrina and barely noticed.
• Bio Weapons - Countries without good healthcare will be hit harder
• Demographics - Easily stopped if we can muster the political will to do it.

  A supervolcano, or communist/liberal infiltration of the government are much greater threats than any of the above. Multiple EMP's could be a threat.

[DannyTN]

"These five are in no way as ruinous as knowledgeable people not voting."

Or citizens being too lazy to become knowledgeable before voting.

[SumProVita]

Even more reason to be praying and fasting for our nation...

(How many people are doing this?)

[optiguy]

We’ve had ” The man from Hope, Arkansas”, ” Hope and Change” and now, ” Hope we get out of this alive”.

[relictele]

Too late, I’m afraid.

The sixth and most immediate item is the possible reelection of the Scarecrow in Chief.

[wita]

Default on the debt is a congressional, and leftist red herring. We have complete and total control over our financial future, and if we continue as at present, we deserve the destruction that will be ours. It will prove once and for all just how stupid the American people really are...or not.

Cut, slash, defund, eliminate, etc are words that better start appearing in the headlines if we have any hope of surviving the next few years.

[frithguild]

WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!

[astounded]

“The sixth and most immediate item is the possible reelection of the Scarecrow in Chief.”

Now THAT is funny...the way you put it. The possibility, however, is NOT funny, and I agree, Barack Obama poses a clear andpresent danger to the USA.

[astounded]

“The sixth and most immediate item is the possible reelection of the Scarecrow in Chief.”

Now THAT is funny...the way you put it. The possibility, however, is NOT funny, and I agree, Barack Obama poses a clear and present danger to the USA.

[bvw]

NONE OF THE ABOVE ARE real black swans.

Here's TWO actual events in the process of fully actualizing that are better examples of "Black Swans":

1. A generation with a big majority of fatherless children. This is never happened outside of war. And even in war, the children were born in wedlock. There was always the spirit and memory of the Dad and of the marriage along with the legitimacy of lawful fatherhood to assuage the actual lack of a father.

2. A society where majority of people are living alone. Unlike the generation of fatherless children which is already upon us, that fatherless generation now being infants, we are not yet a society where most people live alone. But we are getting there. Eric Klinenberg has says in his book Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone

   In 1950, there were about 4 million Americans living alone, a little less than 10% of all households were one-person households. And back then, it was most common in the sprawling Western states, like Alaska, and Montana, and Nevada, because single migrant men went there.

   Today, there are more than 32 million people living alone—according to the latest census estimates, 32.7 million—and that’s about 28% of all American households. This is an enormous change. Instead of being most common in the West, it’s now most common in big cities, and it's common in big cities throughout the country. In Seattle, and San Francisco, and Denver, and Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., and Chicago, there are between 35 and 45% of the households have just one person. In Manhattan, where I live, about 1 of every 2 households is a one-person household.

[The Great RJ]

• Default on debtAlmost assured if Obama is re-elected and the Democrats get a majority or near majority in Congress.
• EMP Possible, but a far easier method would be coordinated attacks the nation's electric grid. Remember the 2003 northeast blackout was caused by a single power surge.
• Nuclear weaponsIt is almost a certainty that some world city will be destroyed by a nuclear device within the next decade and highly likely it will be a US city destroyed by a terrorist nuke. Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is highly vulnerable to takeover by radical Islamic jihadists and poses a bigger threat than Iran since Pakistan's nukes are already built and tested, in weapons form and numerous.

[FastCoyote]

I’ve gone into the Default on the Debt scenario extensively writing two books already out:

Going Galt: Surviving Economic Armageddon http://www.futurnamics.com/goinggalt.php
Surviving Civil War II: Preparing for Social, Economic & Political Collapse http://www.futurnamics.com/civilwar.php

I have a third book about the Biflationary paradigm we’re in which I just finished and will show up in a couple days on Amazon :
Biflationary Depression: Protecting Assets From Inflation And Deflation In A Keynesian Collapse http://www.futurnamics.com/biflation.php

The numbers I’ve researched on the economy for these three books really are frightening. We may muddle through at some level (the sun will always come up) but buckle up for rough times.

[The Great RJ]

• Default on debtAlmost assured if Obama is re-elected and the Democrats get a majority or near majority in Congress.
• EMP Possible, but a far easier method would be coordinated attacks the nation's electric grid. Remember the 2003 northeast blackout was caused by a single power surge.
• Nuclear weaponsIt is almost a certainty that some world city will be destroyed by a nuclear device within the next decade and highly likely it will be a US city destroyed by a terrorist nuke. Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is highly vulnerable to takeover by radical Islamic jihadists and poses a bigger threat than Iran since Pakistan's nukes are already built and tested, in weapons form and numerous.
• Bio weapons Possible threat, but with modern methods and medicine they could be contained to limited areas. However mass casualties are still possible.
• Demographics Not too likely as the thousands of illegals are fleeing Mexico and may not have much allegiance to a Mexican government.

[IMR 4350]

I’m glad you got it all figured out Pollyanna.

[Buckeye McFrog]

“If you nuke us, use an EMP or a bioweapon we’ll default on our debt”.

Mutual Assured Destruction. Problem solved.

[CodeToad]

I don’t think the author understands what a ‘Black Swan’ is. Thery are surprises. Nothing in that list hasn’t been discussed ad nauseum for years.

[Smokin' Joe]

These five are in no way as ruinous as knowledgeable people not voting.

I am far less concerned about knowlegeable people not voting than the ignorant showing up at the polls en masse.

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers.