Monday, March 17, 2008

The Decline and Fall of the United States

We are watching history. The collapse of a great empire is a rare event. To be able to witness it is an honor (most certainly the wrong word) few could claim.

I had thought the nation would be able to survive the presidency of George Bush. I was wrong. Seven years we survived, eight was too much. This once powerful nation is a feeble shell of its former grandeur.

Military
The United States can still reduce the whole of the world to radioactive rubble but we cannot liberate a single marketplace. Iraq was a nation the Ottoman Turks easily controlled and even an enfeebled British Empire mastered that land in the 20th century. Yet, a sadistic tinhorn dictator suffering under a global economic embargo was more successful than the powerful US at providing basic services. The world is right to fear our insanity, a madman president can still destroy the world with the touch of a button. But if the mighty US military has failed, in five years, to conquer a pissant collection of feuding warlords there is little in this world we could defeat.

Economic
When Alan Greenspan says that the nation's economy is the worst since World War II he means the worst since the Great Depression. The start of WWII marked the end of the Depression and the war years had a booming economy. The seeds of our current economic collapse were planted by the Clinton Administration but they have been fertilized into full fruit by George Bush.

In 1999, Bill Clinton signed into law the repealing the Glass-Steagall Act (note: this is an important link). Glass-Steagall was a Depression era law that believed a stable banking system was vital for a strong nation. By 1999, bankers like Sandy Weill at Citibank were bristling under a law that prohibited them from the kind of wild, cowboy finances that was making Enron such an exciting business. Banks had access to billions of dollars yet they were required to make dull, safe investments. How boring. Weill and his kin were orgasmic over the prospects of what they could do if the shackles were released. Now we know. The above link suggests Hillary Clinton be asked if she supports her husband's repeal of Glass-Steagall? She should.

The US is entering what has been called the Very Great Depression. The safety nets woven by FDR and the New Deal are tattered shreds. The repeal of Glass-Steagall followed by eight years of lax oversight has brought the nation's banking system to the edge of collapse. Bear Stearns is not an anomaly but only the first of what will be several bank failures. The implosion of the dollar is a symptom of the economic crisis and the continued free fall of the dollar will suck more banks and businesses into the abyss. The massive budget deficits the nation has been running means that the government has no flexibility to help. The nation, like the banks, is nearing bankruptcy. I see no willingness by the rest of the world to help us.

The Future
Economically, we are in for a rough patch. Understatement, we are in for Hell. Although government statistics will try to hide it, unemployment is skyrocketing and will grow progressively worse. I expect runaway inflation, like Germany in the 1930's, rather than the deflation that roiled the United States during the Great Depression.

If the wrong person is elected president (John McCain), he/she may try nuclear blackmail to force the world's strong economies, China and Europe, to support us. The formula is simple, give us hundreds of billions of Euros, even we won't accept dollars much longer, or the United States will start bombing your cities.

It is a Brave New World we are entering.

28 comments:

PoliShifter said...

I am begining to think part of the Bush/Cheney plan is to reduce the value of the dollar so much that the U.S. becomes a destination for the wealthy elite overseas to vacation due to the favorable exchange rate.

We will be the tijuana of the world. Foreigners will flock to NYC, San Francisco, DC, and other landmark cities to view relics of the crumbling empire.

Sort of like visiting the Coloseum...

Anonymous said...

Who was "in charge" in congress during the last two years of the Bush presidency? I submit that that is the place to look for the cause of the current situation.

Anonymous said...

Bush had a tough presidency, and honestly what he did during it was fantastic. The way he handle 9/11 was amazing. Do you think you could have done any better??

Anonymous said...

I believe that this country will come to see that the election of Obama was not all its was cracked up to be. What Obama said he can/will do is mind-blowing and WRONG!!! The current situation of our country will not change as quickly as Obama promised. The process of rebuilding our economy will be expedited but not over night as many may think!!

Anonymous said...

Some people believe that the worst case is that the US will collapse in 2012. I'm thinking it may be that or 2020. With the debt run up by both Bush and Obama the government will not be able to pay off the debt and I wouldn't be suprised if the US was invaded by China.

Bill said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bill said...

The dollar has strengthened precipitously in 2009 even as the financial crises has worsened. It's called a "flight to quality" you may have heard of it - in troubled times investors seeking to mitigate risk invest in high quality asset classes. The world continues to choose the dollar.

So much for your retarded analysis.

Anonymous said...

the blame for this, should not rest on Bush. Had Obama- say- been president, you wouldn't even had mentioned that little sentence. Because, what, we expect more from Obama? The economy goes up and down, that is expected. It will continue to go up and down, with no care as to who the president is at the moment. We are still the most powerful nation- not a 'feeble shell' as you stated. China is catching up on us, but no one can stay on top forever. Let me add, that the US military has not failed. The progress we have made over there is amazing, and the biased newspapers do not cover the entire story. The troops we have over there are succeeding, and the work we're doing over there is amazing.

I just wanted to comment, to add another opinion to your blog. I see only one side of the spectrum being represented.

Anonymous said...

Bush didnt handle 9/11
he used it as a excuse to evade iraq, and afagan. the only thing that was accomplished there was running the country to debt via borrowing billions of dollars from the "federal bank" just to take out sadam and his sons, and other pointless targets, that had nothing to do with 9/11. how can you declare war on targets "terrorist" when you dont even know who they are or where their located" his campaign, dug this country into a debt, and now all we can do is hope Obama does something right, before we go completly to hell,

Anonymous said...

what are the chances that obama will do something right!?!

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The dollar has strengthened precipitously in 2009 even as the financial crises has worsened. It's called a "flight to quality" you may have heard of it - in troubled times investors seeking to mitigate risk invest in high quality asset classes. The world continues to choose the dollar.

Anonymous said...

The lack of ignorance in many of the comments is astounding. I was just reading an article about signs of American decline and "lack of education" was one reason cited. To think Bush or Obama or any President will do what's best for the United States is preposterous. Anyone who would actually do something in the people's best interest would be promptly assassinated by the people who put them in. The Presidents serve the elites and deceive the people by perpetuating the lie that we are still free. The Republic has been in decline for a long time now and people are just now figuring it out. The smoke has permeated the air for so long but we're just now seeing the fire and getting concerned. If we don't do something soon, it's over, plain and simple. The Establishment cares ride the wave of decline so they can profit while America dies. They've been building their "ark", so to speak. What have YOU been doing. But food, guns and ammo NOW. The government won't save you from the collapse it is perpetuating on behalf of its globalist masters. Prepare now before you wake up and the dollar is worthless and there's no food at the store to eat, not that you could afford it anyway at that point. Sic Semper Tyrannis.

Anonymous said...

you are absolutely right my friend. People are grossly ignorant of the establishment scheme. so many people laugh at it that i sometimes wonder if i'm the one that's crazy. then I wake up and read some story that confirms it again and again. signs are everywhere. the scheme is visible for those who pay attention but seems absurd to those who don't. that's the way it's always been in the world, i would venture to say since mankind came about. i think ppl need to put down the video games, gossip magazines, etc and get involved. pay attention. study history and ppl will start to become aware of the subtle veiled agenda behind geopolitical and economic events that happen. things are highly manipulated and not what they seem. they r not natural occurrences. follow the money. the U.S. constitution is the last defense against these bastards that's why they're working so hard to get rid of it using their agents in gov. on both sides of the isle. not conspiracy theory. conspiracy FACT. do your homework. it's important for you to know, but more important for your country that you know.

Anonymous said...

A little inreality for sure! It is a known fact within the intel community that we are in for a nuclear attack by musalmans entrenched in south america where I might add is also bin laden, these groups are aided by such entities as ms 13 and president hugo chavez all of whom help smuggle sleeper agents and nukes into this nation across the porous mexican border.

Anonymous said...

the USA is most definately in decline. it nukes no longer mean anything. if it reduces the world to rubble, there would be nothing left for them to take, and they would collapse on their own. and George Bush did horribly as a president. He didn't handle 9/11 well. You think invading Afganistan is a good way to handle it, then you need to learn ethics. and for obama, its impossible for him to change a falling empire that fast. besides, he is by far the best president you have ever had. that's right, im not american. also,according to history, no democracy has lasted more than 200 years.

Anonymous said...

I belive that Bush was not a bad president, he did what he had to do,and people did't like it. He handled the 9/11 situation the way he thought it should be handled, what other choices did he have? And if you think about it, President Obama has been lying to us from the beggining. He says he doesn't want to waste money, but what does he do justmonths after he becomes president, he gives money away to foreign countrys for abortions! Explain the reasoning behind that! People thought they needed a different kind of president, a democrat, and now the U.S. is falling because we now have a president who lies to us, and people are just so blinded by their love for him, and "all the good he is doing" they can;t see the truth. And it is because of that blindness, and unwillingness to see, that we will continue to decline.

Anonymous said...

The decline of the United States has been an ongoing event for generations. The Republic established by our forefathers was in its death throws several decades before the Civil War, that war simply made it official. Lincoln less than Julius Caesar merely presided over the change from Republic to Empire. The Spanish America War solidified our position as an Imperial State, Wilson and WWI furthered the ambitions of the plutocrats, but Roosevelt’s war, World War II, made the United States into a true Imperial Empire. Like Caesar, the totalitarian followers of Rousseau from the French Revolution to the Bolshevik Revolution to the counter-culture American Revolution of the 1960s built their empires on the populist illusion of democracy and universal suffrage as a common good. What they ended up with were repressive societies with mandates for absolute conformity, where the people supposedly govern, but a small elite actually rule. All States eventually fail; the United States while militarily still the most powerful nation in the world has become irreparably decedent. And if history and William Durant are right (and I think they are), great Empires are not concurred from without until they become corrupt from within; then we have reach the half-way-point on the road to a most terrible collapse.

Ronald Lee Greene said...

It's rather sad that America does not know who they are.Whether any one believes it or not, here are the facts.Do a Google search:where are the lost ten tribes of israel.The sign of God's people: keeping the seventh day Sabbath.Gen2:2 & 3.Exo 20:8-11.Exo31:13-1Jesus and His apostles kept the Sabbath. Even the Gentiles kept the Sabbath. You say that was in the Old Testament. Mat4:4 Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Jesus said this before the New Testament was written. The counterfeit religions pursuades the world to keep Sunday as the day of worship, even though their bible that they carry to church every Sunday tells them different.Anyone found keeping the seventh Sabbath were killed.If they would only read their bible they would know the truth.Gen3 reveals that Satan was and is responsible for this lie.Rev12.9Satan deceives the whole world and it is their fault,if they don't read their bibles.They would know the truth & the truth will set you free. Because mankind rejects God, he has given a certain amount of time to return to him, 1st by reading the bible and doing what it says.Anybody with any sense can see that this whole world is in trouble mainly because it rejects the way of God and they are without excuse.God is going to let Satan loose in full power to wreck this world in hopes that it would turn to him.But they won't.Only a few. Except those days are shorten, NO FLESH SHALL BE SAVED ALIVE. Jesus Christ will return just before that happens. If we return to God now, before it's too late he will save us.Because of the all powerful satan and stubborn man it will have to pay the penalty. Already people are paying the penalty, but they are helpless, because the Satan and false churches have a strong sway on the world.It doesn't have God's Holy Spirit. If you have not the Spirit you are none of Christ's, you then belong to the Devil. Time is running out. May God have mercy on your souls.

Anonymous said...

I believe our countries downfall is due to greed, both parties in congress, and the courts.We were sold out for money. Our way of life and what we stand for are gone.And for what to be polictily correct.In the end it all adds up to follow the money

Unknown said...

I sensed it in 2003. When it became unpatriotic to question the government. I sensed that we were a gullible people, no longer a free people, nor do we possess the strength of character to remain free. We are not the land of the free; home of the brave. You can't be free in a plutocracy unless you are one of the filthy rich.

In a veiled attempt to deny the truth of what is happening, we whistle past our nations grave.

The American people, like Adam and Eve, accept the lies told them from every medium by the serpent. Then, once poisoned by the apple, they deliver it to others as "good disciples" of the truth. The apple is just an apple. The serpent is the large and multi-national corporations who bought-off politians, news casters, and taking heads over the decades to push their agenda. The lie is all the shit wrapped in the flag.

American's propensity to lie to itself is enormous. In order to justify the act; the act of accepting the lies and acting against your own best interest as an individual and a nation. You must look at yourselves America. You are complicit in your own demise. Americans will be paying for that sin for a long time. No one has to tell you that we are going down hill, just look around.

Only the very rich are doing fine and they are the cause of it all. The filthy rich are and practice evil. They don't care about people, their nation, or any good thing that doesn't produce a profit. They really are filled with deadmans bones. Only evil would destroy the hopes and dreams of the little people. Then, take their jobs and give them to foreign countries, then take their homes, and ruin their futures. All this with the help and blessings of the federal gov't.

I think that the multi-national banks and corporations are the anti-christ and America, a Christian nation, is in bed with them.

They are evil and America will follow them to Armagedon.

I really do miss the true America.

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Anonymous said...

When will people realize that a President is only a figure head that's all. Why do you think they have so many advisers? Yes they can make some decisions on their own but rarely do. And by the way I didn't like either of the Bushes especially the second one. I did like Obama at first but I really don't think he is any better or worse, the only thing different is the color of his skin and he can talk way better the Bush Jr.

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