“Through the Unraveling, people will have preferred (or, at least, tolerated) the exciting if bewildering trend toward social complexity. But as the Crisis mood congeals, people will come to the jarring realization that they have grown helplessly dependent on a teetering edifice of anonymous transactions and paper guarantees. Many Americans won’t know where their savings are, who their employer is, what their pension is, or how their government works. The era will have left the financial world arbitraged and tentacled: Debtors won’t know who holds their notes, homeowners who owns their mortgages, and shareholders who runs their equities–and vice versa.” The Fourth Turning – 1997
From Nikita Khrushchev’s words in 1956, loosely translated, “We will bury you” to the present time, 55 years later, have the sands of time finally caught up with the United States? Has the world’s biggest economy and overindulged society moved from an unraveling to a crisis era? Is crisis engulfing the world? Do the majority of Americans possibly feel like the character Colonel George Taylor, played by Charlton Heston in
Talk about hopelessness. If you’ve never heard of Dylan Ratigan, you should check out his rant on MSNBC, no less, about Congress, banks and the President. And you can’t argue with what he says. The wealth of America is being extracted, to use his word. The fireworks start at about the fourth minute and you can view it here. Another rant making the rounds is one by black comedian, Felonious Munk who gives a rousing rant, busting on Barrack Hussein Obama, which includes profuse expletives. If you don’t mind the profanity, you can view it here.
In Hollywood, there’s always the possibility of a sequel. But what about the next chapter for the United States? Has the crisis era begun, that’s leading to something apocalyptic, or merely part of a normal cycle for humanity? Or is this time different, an anomaly, like the era of the Civil War. Let’s take a quick look at some facts:
• The national debt is at 14 Trillion and climbing rapidly. Currently projections put the national debt at almost 25 Trillion in ten years. There is no plan and no way to pay off the debt.
• Unfunded liabilities are approximately 60-70 Trillion and no one seems to know or has a plan where the money is coming from.
• Unemployment is over 9%, depending on how you calculate it. That’s the conservative number. The estimates vary all the way up to 22% unemployment. Check www.shadowstats.com for stats you don’t get from the government.
• Since 2008, the economy has been stagnant, regardless of economic stimulus in the form of Quantitative Easing # 1 and # 2 , cash for clunkers etc., etc. The talk of a double dip recession, belies the fact that we never climbed out of the recession of 2008. There are similarities to the Great Depression of the 1930′s.
• This week, gold hit an all time high of over $1,800 per ounce.
• Within the last week, the United States’ credit rating was downgraded from AAA to AA+, the first time in the history of America that has happened.
• American dissatisfaction with government is polled at an all-time high.
• Food stamp use is at an all-time high.
There are about two dozen other facts, that only point in one direction – crisis. The quote at the beginning of this piece is from the book, The Fourth Turning, written in 1997. That was before the housing melt down. Regardless of many of the book’s prophetic predictions, Americans generally feel that this time something is very wrong and not quite right with America or the world.
We are fighting a war in Iraq and Afghanistan. There’s a covert war going on in Libya, or at least one you won’t find on the nightly news because America’s presence there is illegal. The United States is involved, in some form or fashion, in nearly every country in the Middle East. Yet nothing is done to quell the growing dangers in Somalia, from Somali pirates that are terrorizing the high seas. Financial markets are in turmoil and nearly every day there is another rumor of a European country that’s going to default. Millions across the globe are starving.
China is buying commodities and increasing its military hardware, Pakistan is harboring terrorists and has become a tinderbox. Iran is working on a greater nuclear presence and a much improved rocket delivery system. The disenfranchised are rioting in Great Britain and there’s a drug war taking over Mexico. And we haven’t even mentioned North Korea, Venezuela, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia or India.
At home most of the states are in financial distress, California is bankrupt, among others, and before the end of the year you can count on a credit downgrade for at least half a dozen states. Think we are in a crisis?
And the rub of it is, a whole lot of this “stuff” is going to come to a head sometime around the first Tuesday of November 2012, just before the Mayan calendar ends. Coincidence?
According to Strauss and Howe in their book, The Fourth Turning the crisis era (remember it was written in 1997) will begin in about 2005 and lasts for about 20 years. Looks like they’ve called it pretty close.
To add fuel to an already dry tinderbox, Americans are the most heavily armed people on the face of the earth. What do you think will happen when a crisis hits America’s cities with that kind of arsenal? The riots of the sixties will pale by comparison.
We have entered a crisis era and there is a lot that remains to be sorted out. But it will be sorted out. Make no mistake, it will not be sorted out by unconstitutional Congressional Super Committees, a corrupt government or more Federal handouts. Sadly, as if we have not learned any lessons from prior generations, a World War may be in the offing. The only questions that remain are how painful it will be, how it will play out and what will be the timeline? Be prepared.
