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Posted on 08/28/2013 9:34:59 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
THE END IS NEAR AND IT’S GOING TO BE AWESOME By Kevin Williamson Broadside Books, $27.99, 240 pages
On one point, Kevin Williamson is almost certainly right: We are headed over the cliff. But halfway through the National Review correspondent’s new book, “The End Is Near and It’s Going to be Awesome,” I began to wonder what the final word of his title is supposed to mean.
Decades ago, stoned hippies and weather-beaten surfers corrupted the word awesome, which now translates roughly into a thousand different shades of enthusiasm. Midlevel managers at prestigious accounting firms can be caught saying things such as “Awesome work on that PowerPoint presentation, Dylan!” — which is as much of a harbinger of our impending doom as anything, if you ask me. But there’s an older meaning of the word, too, one that connotes dreadfulness and fear. Not for nothing did the translators of the New International Version of the Bible employ awesome where the King James had used terrible.
One might be forgiven for asking whether this is the meaning Mr. Williamson intends. Midway through his book on America’s coming reckoning, readers have learned that the future obligations of federal, state and local governments total something like $150 trillion or $200 trillion, depending on who’s counting. That’s about twice the global gross domestic product. Thus, the question for entitlement programs such as Social Security, as Mr. Williamson puts it, “is not ‘How do we go about paying these benefits?’ but ‘How do we go about not paying these benefits?’” Regardless of what we collectively choose — to default on our debt, debase our currency or break the entitlement social contract — the result will not be pretty. “It is impossible to predict with any precision what the outcome of this will be....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
I have not, and quite unlikely to... particularly with that title.
waitin for the movie.
Awesome post!
Have fun. Enjoy the awesome slide. ;-D
“Decades ago, stoned hippies and weather-beaten surfers corrupted the word awesome, which now translates roughly into a thousand different shades of enthusiasm.”
I’m reminded of comedian Eddie Izzard’s bit about the word awesome:
“America needs the old version of awesome. I saw an advert for ‘awesome hot dogs, only $2.99’. If they were *really* awesome you’d be going, (gasping for breath) “I can not… breathe for the way the sausage is held by the bun. It is… it is speaking to me.”
Why not use the 200-300 trillion “invested” in credit default swaps to pay off these debts?
I can't stand this line of thinking
The threat of scarcity and deprivation is the only thing that motivates a huge percentage of the population to behave properly and be productive.
Only a tiny minority will still continue working for the greater good once their basic needs have been met.
A better managed wealth redistribution scheme might result in a greater return on the taxes taken. However it doesn't fix the problem of infantilizing people who no longer have to take care of themselves.
“The End is Near”
I thought it was a book about Jim Morrison and the Doors.
Huh?
From the Amazon blurb:
Book Description
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
In The End Is Near and It’s Going to Be Awesome, Kevin Williamson, a National Review Online contributor, makes the bold argument that the United States government is disintegrating—and that it is a good thing!
Williamson offers a radical re-envisioning of government, a powerful analysis of why it doesn’t work, and an exploration of the innovative solutions to various social problems that are spontaneously emerging as a result of the failure of politics and government.
Critical and compelling, The End Is Near and It’s Going to Be Awesome: How Going Broke Will Leave America Richer, Happier, and More Secure lays out a thoughtful plan for a new system, one based on success stories from around the country, from those who home-school their children to others who have successfully created their own currency.
Alas, Brave New Babylon
(link to the Free Republic thread)
I’ve read it. It discusses how technology and existing private models mean that when the government collapses, we will be able to set up better schooling (home schooling via internet, private schools), services like security and trash pickup and other options that are far better than we have today.
He assumes a gradual decline, with private police forces, online home schooling, neighbors paying for trash pickup or security and other private market solutions filling in the gap. When touching on economic impacts like dramatic cuts in Social Security due to inability to pay, he assumes charity and family will fill in the gap. He’s right that getting government out of medicine will make many cutting edge treatments available and many more affordable; but that is assuming you don’t end up with a third world government that bans what isn’t locally produced or politically connected.
He glosses over the possibility of a violent collapse, and the damage it will cause.
***Decades ago, stoned hippies and weather-beaten surfers corrupted the word awesome,***
They did more than that! corrupted other words to mean different things,then they took certain words considered profane and pushed them into common use.
Fifty years ago, using some now “common” words in mixed company would have gotten you taken out behind the the building and given an attitude adjustment.
Any woman using such words would immediately label her as trash.
I wish I could be so cheerful. The end is likely coming but its not going to be too much fun for the average plebe.
If you are not already preparing to live independently of normal govt services and utilities you should start like now.
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