EveningStar, my apologies for posting the flying saucer image. Yours was a good post.
Travis, having reviewed some information, I see a serious and deleterious economic and information situation developing mostly from the middle and top (yes, allusion to the fomenting of further physical class war from people gorged with debt and increasingly hysterical disseminations of information). The accredited, approved, etc. class is rather delusional in its planning scenarios, of course, and not only in their narrow regards of projected strength here and there, labels, and so on.
First, many of us will become much poorer, speaking of material items. That includes a very large portion of those who consider themselves to be well to do.
Second, an investigation into economic depressions tells as to which class will get its way on social issues (the “progressive” business, where it all started). See our own Great Depression and the effects that it had on the designs and so-called progress of the effete folks of the time (neo-romantics, social deviants,...). The social inclinations of the effete were hushed within a very short time.
Dire necessities lead to re-institutions of necessary social paradigms (what romanticists would call regression, etc.). Tangents of social ease toward anti-family practices are again outlawed, and such leisure class groups are deposed with market crashes, bond collapses, investment/pension “haircuts,” etc.
We’ll see as to how far the pathologies go. Looks like they have further popular academic, political and business momentum. It’s an awesome public affairs challenge.
My general point from guesswork: hard times with such descendents and culture, on average, as in our USA, tend to cause a fall of many unproductive/counterproductive folks in leadership and a return to more traditional moral opinions.
We’re different from some of the other populations (Russia, China and the like), in that we desire freedoms more than they, generally speaking. Always have. Even most of the duped working class Democrat voters. They (other nations, cultures) have only known hard and thorough monarchy/communism/fascism all through their histories.
Example: the czars of Russia also censored speech. Another: same with emperors of china. Even now, Chinese leadership tries to keep all eyes on the Yellow River flowing out to the ocean (the world). Same to great extends south of our southern border (Jefe, always Jefe, nothing changes) and in other cultures.
IMO, economic slide + incremental eliminations of freedoms = a bad mix for the ever more pathological comfy, vain and lazy. Huge public affairs problem—too much. We are not a third world population. We are not the world and are not in agreement with the romantic worldly: those pampered and “educated” in the illusions of tourist reservations.
In the possible event of any great insurrections, I’m still staying as far out of the way as possible, just as you and many others of us will. Too many potential mouthy, delusional chiefs in the most likely scenarios—nearly all of them gorged too much on television, junk food, leisure, higher education (see sexual confusions, illusions about tea parties and the like) etc. Let ‘em fight it out, while we enjoy peace and quiet. We’ll rebuild afterward.
Oh, and many politicos are screeching that we’ll see communism. Well, even if, that would be rule by “thugs” not to include contemporary personalities in leadership. The political/regulator socialists still lose to resurgent “patriarchy” and all. Whole lot of fancy folks (see tourist reservations, not old marketplaces and neighborhoods on the outside of those) only think they know things about the more dictatorial countries. They’re not respected the morning after.
Witness also, the decreasing respect and attention of the population for socially consolidated, contemporary politics. Many more are irked and are beginning to see a decades-long class war perpetrated against them (mostly inadvertent by those in trade and offices), while the shrinking political class begins to shriek generalizing projections against the rest of the general population.
Most people will work hard if allowed to do so. Thing is, it’s illegal (e.g., rural zoning against one-horse manufacturing shops). Most people are flamed by politicos as being nothing more than uber-populating, trash, stinking up the scenery.
There’s also more ingenuity out there than I previously assumed. I looked around at quite a bit of it.