[p2p-research] 2010 will be a hot year in the US

[Michel Bauwens]

VIA http://kunstler.com/blog/2009/12/forecast-2010.html#more

A LOT more interesting stuff in that article,

Michel


One wild card is how angry the American people might get.  Unlike the 1930s,
we are no longer a nation who call each other "Mister" and "Ma'am," where
even the down-and-out wear neckties and speak a discernible variant of
regular English, where hoboes say "thank you," and where, in short, there is
something like a common culture of shared values.  We're a nation of thugs
and louts with flames tattooed on our necks, who call each other
"motherfucker" and are skilled only in playing video games based on mass
murder. The masses of Roosevelt's time were coming off decades of
programmed, regimented work, where people showed up in well-run factories
and schools and pretty much behaved themselves. In my view, that's one of
the reasons that the US didn't explode in political violence during the
Great Depression of the 1930s - the discipline and fortitude of the
citizenry.  The sheer weight of demoralization now is so titanic that it is
very hard to imagine the people of the USA pulling together for anything
beyond the most superficial ceremonies - placing teddy bears on a crash
site.  And forget about discipline and fortitude in a nation of ADD victims
and self-esteem seekers.

     I believe we will see the outbreak of civil disturbance at many levels
in 2010.  One will be plain old crime against property and persons,
especially where the sense of community is flimsy-to-nonexistent, and that
includes most of suburban America. The automobile is a fabulous aid to
crime. People can commit crimes in Skokie and be back home in Racine before
supper (if supper is anything besides a pepperoni stick and some Hostess
Ho-Hos in the car). Fewer police will be on guard due to budget shortfalls.

      I think we'll see a variety-pack of political disturbance led first by
people who are just plain pissed off at government and corporations and seek
to damage property belonging to these entities. The ideologically-driven
will offer up "revolutionary" action to redefine some lost national sense of
purpose. Some of the most dangerous players such as the political
racialists, the *posse comitatus* types, the totalitarian populists, have
been out-of-sight for years. They'll come out of the woodwork and join the
contest over dwindling resources. Both the Left and the Right are capable of
violence. But since the Left is ostensibly already in power, the Right is in
a better position to mount a real challenge to office-holders. Their ideas
may be savage and ridiculous, but they could easily sweep the 2010 elections
- unless we see the rise of a third party (or perhaps several parties). No
sign of that yet. Personally, I'd like to see figures like Christopher Dodd
and Barney Frank sent packing, though I'm a registered Democrat. In the year
ahead, the sense of contraction will be palpable and huge. Losses will be
obvious.  No amount of jive-talking will convince the public that they are
experiencing "recovery."  Everything familiar and comforting will begin
receding toward the horizon.


-- 
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