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  HomerJS491 year, 5 months ago

  "War is a major employer." I just read a article about the economic draft thats going on.

  Strange how we've just accepted it. No wonder that most civilizations change in some major way approximately 200 years or so. We're just too complacent.

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  not2needy1 year, 5 months ago

  If sloth is indeed a deadly sin, there are a lot of people out there hell bound. If greed is one, maybe there will be poetic justice to some of the Born Again Conservatives who are hell bent on taking the US for every dime they can.

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  1basque11 year, 5 months ago

  Very Good Article....The last sentence is a statement in it's own...Just not one that will ever cross the mind's of this Administration.

  Sad but true !

  Thanks populist

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  hkeltsch1 year, 5 months ago

  I agree. How long can we continue down our path of self-indulgence, greed and self interest? Houses, cars, goods, food, clothing, etc. is so exspensive that even people with triple A credit ratings are losing their homes...and for what? Look at our rating in the world.

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    Juditt1 year, 5 months ago

    I recently downsized our lifestyle by moving to a lower cost area of the country, eliminating my consumer debts(credit cards) and selling the second car. I am fine tuning our budget and sticking with it. Next, we are growing a vegetable garden!

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  DarkWizard1 year, 5 months ago

  populist,

  You said a mouthful in this article. Kind of reminds me of the song "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath off of their Paranoid release.

  I think there are many of us who agree with the assessment that our government needs to change to address these critical issues. I know I do. Time is running out and the general public is still being led like sheep to the slaughter. However, I do believe there is more of an awareness of what is really at stake than ever before.

  It is unfortunate that our government is backing us into a corner on a round world. Something will have to give. Like Rome before us, America will fall if it continues on the path they are presently on. America is destroying itself from within and setting itself up for World War III; only this time we will be the bad guys the world must stop.

  Republicans and others may see this as "traitorous" talk, but freedom of speech dictates that I have the right to speak the truth as I see it.

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  Juditt1 year, 5 months ago

  Even major retailers like Walmart (in my experience) is in on the social trend to "war-ify" the population by selling - in the kid's section- various camouflage/military insignia decorated clothing. My dad is a vet, and I sincerely respect the men and women who enlist themselves for the benefit of our nation as a whole, but I don't necessarily like to dress my kids up like little soldiers. (I do like those summertime flag t-shirts that are available to wear on the 4th of July.)

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  canadianrancher571 year, 5 months ago

  This was an exellent artical, the sad part is as a society will we ever become responsible enough to make the drastic changes that have to be made. Everything that happens on our farm involves fuel except for the cows just grazing, on long weekends I witness something that just freaks me out and that is the caravan of motor homes that drive by onthe way to the lake, some of these rigs cost more than a 1/4 section of good land and they produce nothing. AS with the Titanic when it goes down it will be quick

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  icono11 year, 5 months ago

  Too much truth in the article. Most Americans have forgotten what it is to, as my parents and grandparents used to say, "do without" and learn to "work around the problem" i.e., think and innovate. Self reliance is no longer a popular option however self indulgence is. If we as a people allow our politicians and corporations to do this to us without 'fighting back' via use of the first amendment, the press and the voting process then we can't complain when the "bill comes due" for the party.

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  Amazing11 year, 5 months ago

  The people who will fare best in the coming collapse will be those like the Amish. And look at how un-warlike they are.

  They do not suffer much from juvenile delinquency, because the kids have lots of chores to do. People actually work to survive. It is the inner cities that will suffer the most. There is no food in New York except for what is trucked in. There is no really opportunity to grow food. We are indeed like the Roman empire. And like all great nations, we too shall fall. Oil will be a big part of it. So too will the lack of knowledge and work ethic that would support a farmer and his family in times of want.

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  el-jefe1 year, 5 months ago

  The whole notion of a major collapse within the next decade is more than a little silly. Won't happen. Not by a long shot.

  The US is just too damn big, with too large a population (1 out of every 20 people on this planet is a US citizen), and too obscenely wealthy (it's economy is several TIMES larger than the nearest competitor) to just up and do a belly flop. Can it decay and decline, just like many other civilizations in world history? Well, of course it can. It just isn't going to happen overnight.

  What we'd probably see here (and may indeed see) is a period of "malaise" similar to that of the Carter administration. But there's a lot more to that than just driving SUVs and invading Iraq.

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    DarkWizard1 year, 5 months ago

    El Jefe,

    It must be nice to be independently wealthy such as yourself. I mean with your crystal ball, you must be able to tell the future and therefore have made big bucks somehow.

    Decay and decline do happen over time and it takes many decades before the signs are seen. I've seen the signs of decay for thirty years, but that's just me. Some have probably seen it longer and some have probably not even noticed.

    Arrogance of being the wealthiest society doesn't guarantee continued stature. Militaries fall to other militaries. But, I forgot; you have a crystal ball.

    Don't get me wrong; I hope you are correct. But, wouldn't it be prudent to seem a little hungrier to stay on top of the heap instead of selling our country to everyone that has a dollar to spend?

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    DarkWizard1 year, 5 months ago

    MichaelRhondente,

    I haven't read the book, so I'm not arguing that Kunstler isn't spewing "personal social prejudices" or that he wants "America to suffer." The message should still be clear that America is not preparing itself as well as it could for a shift in energy usage. To understand what a possible scenario could "become" is only doing "risk management." It doesn't have to do anything with agendas or ulterior motives, but purely with industrial and technological continuity.

    Once the risk analysis has been done, and then it a plan should be put into place to mitigate possible damages. Our government has become like and "overgrown" business that moves too slowly to make quick and necessary changes. We should have a little fear of what the future holds so that we can either prepare to be like the Amish or keep from going into economic "Dark Ages."

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  hawk11 year, 5 months ago

  Sheeple will be sheeple! Lead to the slaughter! I believe it,s to late. We have single handedly distroyed this world. MAY God bless us all.

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