People have been conditioned to tune out because of all the crying wolf over the environment and other social issues.
I have only one question on the subject. How have the clowns in the federal government managed to kick the can this far down the road without total collapse? Never mind kicking it another generation, I really don’t understand what gets us through next month. I have been saying for decades that there is no hope for this country in the long run and the run has already lasted longer than I ever expected. It would appear that in truth we are in FAR worse shape than during the thirties but the smoke and mirrors keep people from realizing that.
I think we are generally demoralized and thus don’t feel motivated to fight.
8. Virgina keeps putting up George Allen or some stupid Democrat. People are too lazy to change.
Long ago there was this thread talking about enemy invasion of the US. A typical poster: “Why should I give a sh*t if there’s not enemy soldiers beating down *my* door?”
No need to look any further.
The Marine Corps is at War. America is at the mall.
Americans correctly figure that the reserve currency status of the dollar will protect them for a while longer. One thing we have that other countries don’t is a worldwide infrastructure to prop up the dollar. For example, the IMF: we own it.
In short, we have met the enemy and he is us!
People have heard that “We are all going to die!” for so long, they have stopped caring.
This.
3) Crisis fatigue is rampant
I think that Gov. Scott Walker showed the way out of this mess:
1. Cut the budget.
2. Take the money away from the leeches.
If I’m wrong, someone correct me.
This only applies to the wealthy in this country. Most middle class people I know are terrified of what's happening and know they can do nothing about it.
On the other hand, the wealthy are insulated from what's happened, what's happening and what's to come so THEY go along their merry way. This includes about 85% of politicians who think the U.S. is an endless pit of money there for their taking.
Very astute points. Thanks for the article.
Often I find that No. 4 is the case with a lot of the people I talk to about this issue. They simply can’t grasp it. They see things going on day after day in the same manner they always have, and think, gee, what’s all the fuss about? When I ask them about paying off tens of trillions of dollars in debt their eyes just glaze over. They can’t comprehend it. It’s like trying to understand the size of the universe. For the average voter, talking to them about trillions of dollars in debts is like talking about distances in parsecs. Yes, some, perhaps many, are truly frightened about the size of the debt, but those who don’t understand it or don’t care about it or simply want it to increase until collapse to fulfill an underlying agenda seem to control the system now, and likely will until it crashes.
Our economy is so complicated and confusing, people simply can’t fathom what is going on. Plus, they have to go to work, raise children and take care of their own problems.
Bah. I look at our military presence all over the world and I know we’re not broke.
“Barack Obama’s 10 year budget will leave Americans with “more debt than has been accumulated by all previous Presidents in American history combined.””
We have been operating without a “budget” for the 3-1/2 years Obozo has been in the White Hut. 10 year plan? Where did that come from?
Long term? 2 years is long term now if you go to the bank and talk to them about where to put money. Strange times we live in.
Life is a risky enterprise. Central Government does not reduce the risk, but obscures what the real risk is.
“Too Big to Fail?” But it already has? We are simply papering over the problem.
When the Left looses in November, will they collapse the global economy? They will certainly try.
Globalist vultures of all shades are circling. Will the result of all these lies coming to light lead to another Global Conflict?
Is this all part of the plan to force a Global Currency and Government on the World? Yes.
Are men smart enough to engineer that? No
Forces of evil are.
The Gravity of these times is amazing.
This. It's always this.
In the 1930's Team Germany figured out fascism and the rest of the world paid a price for it's incompentence.
I think the BIGGEST PART of the problem is that otherwise conservative people, many on this site, are more than happy to see this country go broke, as long as their precious Social Security and Medicare don’t get touched (even if all of the money they paid in was spent decades ago by the people they collectively elected).
Many, of not most, of these people have enough money to be able to live on less handouts from the government and/or live on money from their kids, but simply will not accept those options, as it means that their gold-plated Winnebego might have to be 32 feet long, rather than 40 feet long (or living in an apartment, rather than a 5-bedroom house).
Their priorities are as follows:
1) Never, ever, touch their ‘entitlements’, NEVER!!!
2) Cut spending somewhere else, anywhere else, foreign aid, food stamps, National Endowment for the Arts, etc.
3) Let the country go broke, if spending cannot be cut
These are the priorities of half of the older conservatives on THIS SITE. The priorities of the liberals are similar, except they also want to keep #2. Given that, entitlements simply will NEVER get reduced enough to matter.
So what are the options:
1) Turn into Greece (actually much worse) and watch Mexico zoom by us economically.
2) Raise taxes now on the middle and lower classes (i.e., people that cannot easily evade taxes) to pay for this garbage. If people DEMAND a $4T government, then they need to pay for it.
I prefer Option 2, since I have kids, but most conservatives seem to prefer Option 1.
It's easy to blame Pelosi, Reed, and Krugman on this one, but the sad fact is that Republicans haven't done much better when they have had the oppurtunity to make a real difference. Sure, the Pubs can talk tough about the deficit and debt when they only control the House and they know that any "tough-talk" budget legislation will never get past Reid and Obama, but the Pubs have done nothing meaningful when they have been in a position to make a real difference, like when we controlled the executive branch and both houses of Congress under Bush.