How come the F*****G wheels have not fallen off yet? Seriously...

[Dystopia]

Just visiting family for the weekend drove past mega malls with 20 cars in the acres of parking lots, at the moment sitting here with my dear (retired, financially comfortable) parents watching one of these crap morning programs and they are showing this asinine mega cruise ship. I voiced my disgust at the total waste of resources and got shouted down, plan on shutting up for the rest of the visit (now they're discussing [arguing] about the new golf cart they need to get for the place in FL *sigh*) I just I hope I'm home before the wheels do fall off.

[entropy]

Remember that during the Great Depression 75% of the people still had a job.

Real unemployment today is probably around 20% and for those people financial ruin is fact, but the other 80% are hanging on still spending, saving prepping.

Pay down debt keep your job or ruination is yours.

[Ming]

Really, 75% of people still had jobs during the Depression.  Fasinating.  I'm surprised they even admit there was a depression.


Dystopia you must have been watching GMA this morning and they had the weather guy on the new biggest cruise ship about to set sail.    They are so out of touch.  I absoultely hate watching these morning shows, where they show the vacation spots you can travel to.  Yeah, right I'll go twice.

[mtlouie]

Remember that during the Great Depression 75% of the people still had a job.

Real unemployment today is probably around 20% and for those people financial ruin is fact, but the other 80% are hanging on still spending, saving prepping.

Pay down debt keep your job or ruination is yours.

The depression is a very poor comparison to where we're headed.


Capella-  Now THAT was awesome!!

Zenobia- Thanks for the info.  It's a stupid name.  How many people know that?  Of course, how many people know the phrase, "Crossing the Rubicon"?

[dc62]

I think the great George Carlin summed it up aptly:

"People just refuse to be realistic.  They don't like to be realistic.  People would rather stroke themselves.  Oh, they like to stroke themselves, don't they?  Stroke themselves, they stroke each other, they get stroked, they stroke the boss, the boss strokes them back, everybody strokes everybody, it's nothing but a big stroke job in this country.  The government strokes you everyday of your life, religion never stops stroking you, big business gives you a good stroke, it's one big transcontinental, red, white, and blue stroke job!  Do you know what the national emblem for this country ought to be? The national emblem of this country ought to be Uncle Sam standing naked at attention saluting. And seated on a chair next to him, the Statue of Liberty jerking him off. That would be a good symbol for the United Strokes of America.  It's all bullshit, folks, and it's bad for 'ya."

[mtlouie]

We miss you, George.   

[Dystopia]

Love George, and Oh how true.

[guitarbuddy]

Good rant.

Never underestimate the power of The American Hologram.  Go to a place where there is a teevee screen in public and observe the slackjawed zombies staring at it.  Marx said religion was the opiate of the masses, but he was speaking before the invention of the picture tube.

As long as the government keeps the unemployment checks coming and the MSM continues to pull the strings on the puppet people, things will hold together.  When their grip does finally slip, that's when things fall apart.

Sweet dreams.

Absolutely. I just came from reading the article in the Washington Post that 1 in 4 kids in this country are going hungry. Then I read a few of the comments. Turns out it's the fault of lazy, uneducated immigrants, and if you really want to work in this country you can make it. And so on.

One thing I never see mentioned in any of these articles and discussions (outside of forums such as this one) is downsizing the family transportation. We hear about people losing homes or deliberately moving into smaller digs, but what about carpooling, public transport, walking, etc.? I live in an extremely poor area of the US, and it's normal here that every person of legal driving age has a car, more often than not a late model with custom wheels, tinted windows, and an aftermarket stereo system. My wife and I share a 15 year old vehicle which we paid off years ago. When you look at the stats to own and operate a new car it's @ $1,000 per month for the first year. How are people paying this amount and still paying for everything else when they don't have jobs or are "underemployed?"

[Chesyre]

2 GB

er people are trapped in their cars , can't sell them and can't get financing for something more modest .  for every i got a great used car story , i have heard hundreds of i got fucked stories. even on supposably tardproof models.  its a lot easier to walk away from an upside down house than it is an upside down car, almost always some landlord is desperate enough to rent to someone . replacing a good working vehicle is nowhere near as easy .

[haniel]

The wheels have not fallen off yet because most people at their core are decent people.  Most, but not all.  I used to think the reverse of this, especially when being cut off on the highway.  However, I've come to realize that it is a small proportion of the total drivers around me who drive like shit and thus I take this to mean that the proportion of assholes in society is relatively small. 

And that small number of assholes is doing very well. If things look a little down, they can always offshore a thousand or so jobs and put the profitability and hence this years bonus.

[Doomerologist]

Why have the wheels not fallen off yet? Okay, let's stay in the picture here.



Imagine there is a cart. A large one, like the ones you can rent to have a party on them. And there is a bunch of people on it, having the celebration of their life on it. Way to many people, actually, the cart is kind of overloaded and it makes some warning creaks already. Maybe one of the passengers even hears it and says something like "Hey, did you hear that? That noise? Is there something wrong with the cart?" But the others don't want to hear it. They are having a party. They are getting drunk. They want their fun. So the cart goes on. The noise worsens, though and after a while even the hardcore fun-lovers cannot deny it any longer. Something is going wrong. They keep on partying, but ever so often the creaking of the cart becomes a topic of conversation:
"Shouldn't we stop and fix it?", someone asks. The others ridicule him.
"Stop? The party would be over. We cannot stop. The cart can never stop."
"Then let's at least slow down?", someone else suggests. The others grab him and push him off the wagon which now seems to be creaking slightly less. So that's what they start to do. Whenever the creaking becomes too loud, they push someone off to lighten the load and keep the cart moving. Leaves more beer for them as well.
The ones who have been pushed off are pissed, of course. They struggle to get back on, but since the cart keeps moving and hasn't even slowed down, it costs all their strength to just keep up with it, not leaving enough power to climb back on. Sometimes one of the remaining passengers will look down on them and with a pityful expression pour some beer over the sweaty faces of those running behind.
"Here, you poor folks, have a drink. I am really sorry, but you have to understand, we had to sacrifice you, the cart must not stop."
"We have to stop the cart", one of those on the ground decides. He looks around. Most of his companions in misfortune are too busy just keeping up or trying to climb back on the cart to even listen to him. But one or two gang up with him. In an immense effort they try to loosen one of the wheels to make the cart break down.
As soon as the people on the wagon notice that, they start throwing empty beer bottles at them.
"They try to spoil our party! Envious mean creatures! Party-crashers! Terrorists!"
One of the attackers is already on the ground, bleeding, but another one hangs on, determined to stop the cart which is still going at unreduced speed. Now the people on the ground grab him and pull him off.
"What did you do that for?" he asks. "I was trying to stop the cart."
"The cart must not stop", they say.
"But they threw you off. They keep on partying without you!" he cries.
"We will get back on later. The cart must not stop", they say, breathless from the effort of keeping up and fighting him off at the same time.
The people remaining on the cart, there are not too many of them left, have positioned themselves defensively at the railing, prepared to fend off any new attackers. Their singing has stopped. Defending the party has become more important than celebrating. The creaking of the cart is now even louder and more profound.
"Couldn't we throw off some of the beer? We don't need that much, now that there is only so few off us left?" someone suggests sensibly. But before he even finishes the sentence, he is pushed over the railing.
So the cart goes on, all wheels creaking but still attached, carrying a few who consider themselves fortunate to still remain partying, even though there is not much fun in it anymore, due to the fear to be attacked and the beer taken away.
"The cart must not stop. The cart must never stop", they keep mumbling.

+1

That was a great post! Thanks!

[Timactionfigures]

Why have the wheels not fallen off yet? Okay, let's stay in the picture here.



Imagine there is a cart. A large one, like the ones you can rent to have a party on them. And there is a bunch of people on it, having the celebration of their life on it. Way to many people, actually, the cart is kind of overloaded and it makes some warning creaks already. Maybe one of the passengers even hears it and says something like "Hey, did you hear that? That noise? Is there something wrong with the cart?" But the others don't want to hear it. They are having a party. They are getting drunk. They want their fun. So the cart goes on. The noise worsens, though and after a while even the hardcore fun-lovers cannot deny it any longer. Something is going wrong. They keep on partying, but ever so often the creaking of the cart becomes a topic of conversation:
"Shouldn't we stop and fix it?", someone asks. The others ridicule him.
"Stop? The party would be over. We cannot stop. The cart can never stop."
"Then let's at least slow down?", someone else suggests. The others grab him and push him off the wagon which now seems to be creaking slightly less. So that's what they start to do. Whenever the creaking becomes too loud, they push someone off to lighten the load and keep the cart moving. Leaves more beer for them as well.
The ones who have been pushed off are pissed, of course. They struggle to get back on, but since the cart keeps moving and hasn't even slowed down, it costs all their strength to just keep up with it, not leaving enough power to climb back on. Sometimes one of the remaining passengers will look down on them and with a pityful expression pour some beer over the sweaty faces of those running behind.
"Here, you poor folks, have a drink. I am really sorry, but you have to understand, we had to sacrifice you, the cart must not stop."
"We have to stop the cart", one of those on the ground decides. He looks around. Most of his companions in misfortune are too busy just keeping up or trying to climb back on the cart to even listen to him. But one or two gang up with him. In an immense effort they try to loosen one of the wheels to make the cart break down.
As soon as the people on the wagon notice that, they start throwing empty beer bottles at them.
"They try to spoil our party! Envious mean creatures! Party-crashers! Terrorists!"
One of the attackers is already on the ground, bleeding, but another one hangs on, determined to stop the cart which is still going at unreduced speed. Now the people on the ground grab him and pull him off.
"What did you do that for?" he asks. "I was trying to stop the cart."
"The cart must not stop", they say.
"But they threw you off. They keep on partying without you!" he cries.
"We will get back on later. The cart must not stop", they say, breathless from the effort of keeping up and fighting him off at the same time.
The people remaining on the cart, there are not too many of them left, have positioned themselves defensively at the railing, prepared to fend off any new attackers. Their singing has stopped. Defending the party has become more important than celebrating. The creaking of the cart is now even louder and more profound.
"Couldn't we throw off some of the beer? We don't need that much, now that there is only so few off us left?" someone suggests sensibly. But before he even finishes the sentence, he is pushed over the railing.
So the cart goes on, all wheels creaking but still attached, carrying a few who consider themselves fortunate to still remain partying, even though there is not much fun in it anymore, due to the fear to be attacked and the beer taken away.
"The cart must not stop. The cart must never stop", they keep mumbling.

Haha...THAT was awesome! I LOL'd at the "terrorists!"

And I think TINAT has just entered the "anger/rage" phase. It will pass, and then it only pops in once in awhile among the next phases...denial, acceptance, patience.

And my humble opinion as to why the wheels haven't fallen off yet.....because we are here to burn this bitch to a pulp! The Earth spawned us. Whether you believe it or not, we ARE part of a much bigger organism. Just as electrons come and go from atoms....planets come and go through phases. The Earth is burning it's energy, we are just a by-product...as can be seen in the exponential expansion of the human population with the increased release of energy.

Think of it like watching a spark in slow motion. It gets increasingly brighter, reaches a peak of maximum brightness and temperature (maximum energy), and then it goes dim. For all we know there could have been an entire rise and fall of miniature civilizations on that spark. Where does the energy go? Surely something on the spark benefited from the energy while it was available. To us...it all happens in the blink of an eye. To the Universe...we happen in the blink of an eye. We are NOT the end all be all of existence.

What seems "normal" is only an endless array of random chaos that only results in the degradation of the spark that spawned us as a byproduct of the energy it releases. That spark is burning out and fast.

[lynnie]

During the depresssion we manufactured almost 100% of what we used.

Now it is less than 10%!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have oursourced our manufacturing  jobs and the service ones are leaving as well.

Any comparison with the depression, as far as what the future holds, are far too optimistic.

It is possible we and China and Russia will hold the world for nuclear ransom and have some sort of government jobs program here while a few billion people starve. Nobody knows the future. But comparisons with the depression just don't work.

[theozarker]

I guess I'm just wondering what it is that we think a slow crash looks like.  My guess is that the beginning looks very much like the last two years.  I think Capella is right.  All four wheels don't suddenly fall off and the cart go down.  There may be years of creaking and groaning as those in power do everything possible to keep the party going by "lightening" the load before, one at a time, the wheels go.  Things may even pick up for a while before the whole cart collapses.

I also suspect those in power will do everything they can to keep things looking as normal as possible to the very end.  Not necessarily out of evil intent, but because deep down they're just as scared as the average joe.  Most of them haven't a clue as to how this is going to play out either.  Just because they're richer and in positions of more power doesn't mean they're any smarter or more "aware" or have any more "real" answers to something no one in this lifetime has experienced.

So I really don't see anything particularly "patriotic" about grabbing the pitchforks and torches (as tempting as that may be).  Most of those who are in power, whether corporate, financial or political, are acting exactly like they've always acted to a situation they see as bad, but temporary - getting what they can while acting like they know WTF is going on and, maybe, making plans for the worst - just in case.  I think they're just as deluded, and just as eager to pretend it's BAU for a while longer, as the ordinary person is.  My HO anyway.

Linda

[Chesyre]

i vote we take the bottom 5 % and top 5 % and drop them all in a quake type labyrinth and let them duke it out.  when they are all done drop a fuel air explosive bomb on the surviors.