The eventual result will be a turn to Marxism in desperation and confusion. Economic collapse here would be a cause for celebration by the radical left. The left has every reason to celebrate export of industries. Bush, the so-called free traders, and the globalists are pushing the nation into the radical left's hands. Few are inclined to see it.
Considering all they've done for the economy, and society, over the last 60 years, I'll have to concede that point.
Re the severe depression: I suspected we were headed that direction (by design) prior to the last election. That the GOP pretends all the pertinent factors are irrelevant, hardly absolves them of guilt. It's gonna be a mess.
From what I've heard, there was enough moral fiber and social cohesion to carry the country through the Great Depression. Imagine how the prevailing values today, and the diversity, will affect individual and group behavior in a prolonged slump.
We're well along that road already. It began with things like affirmative action and diversity dependent hiring. Job candidates were no longer chosen because of their previously demonstrated abilities, but because of skin color, gender, handicap, sexual behavior or some other state-mandated trait. Competition in the marketplace was abandoned for centrally state-mandated hiring. Schools and universities stopped teaching skills because skills were no longer needed.