Slow Motion National Crisis?

[OzarksJohn]

Howdy.

Are we really in an unprecedented multifaceted pickle individually and nationally? It seems almost odd to me that this nation hasn't already imploded from the money, credit, fuel, and food crisis, considering the reports I read. I question why things aren't failing at warp speed, given how fast virtually everything modern except the government works. Is this thing a slow motion crisis? IF we are cracking up how long does it take for something like this to virtually paralyze a country? Did the great depression happen overnight and immediately become a national crisis or did it take years to spread like a disease until we simply got sicker and sicker until virtually nothing worked as it had before? IF things are going to 7734 in a handbasket, how long does it take to smell the smoke and see the flames? The whole thing seems somewhat surreal.....OzarksJohn ???

[Buck]

The Sleeping Dragon is awakening now to the
news that all is not well. The collapse is now
a faint rumble but will soon become the only
noise that can be heard.

America has been asleep for far to long.....far to long. :'(

[CarolAnn]

It almost seems like a lot of folks WANT it to be bad - and as bad as it can get, and sooner is better than later.

Things are not as bad as they were in 1929 when the stock market went crash, starting a true great depression. That's not to say they won't get there, but this is a different time and different conditions.

For one thing, as much as everyone is moaning about high gas prices, I noticed a huge traffic jam last Thursday night on my way home from work - thousands and thousands of people with the tops of their SUVs piled with luggage - or pulling a camper and/or boat - or driving RV's on their way to celebrate summer. They weren't in bread lines. They weren't staying home because buying gas would mean their kids went hungry. They were out doing what they do every summer - playing and spending their money on non-essentials. My guess is that same traffic jam was happening in every major city in this country.

Were they the grasshopper fiddling while they should have been putting by for hard times ahead? Maybe. But if hard times were already here, that traffic jam would not have happened.

Personally, I went home and put my car away and didn't get back into it until I had to come to work this morning. Every time I buy groceries, I buy a little extra to put aside. I'm not saying hard times aren't coming - I'm just saying they're not here just yet. If they don't come at all - well, then good.

[walls0stone]

Carol, I agree..
People profit from this. And I remember some people 8 years ago cry'n with a ham under there arm until we had a new presedent. Who's doing the cry'n? People on the news..people on the net. Doom-gloomers on the net the people in the race.

Most people with a life don't do that stuff. they do work.

That said, who will say what when the "right man" is ellected? the news, the blogs..ect.. will sing Better Times are Coming.

People profit from this. It's a basic sales tactic..

"SUV's are safer, don't you want your family to be safe in a crash?"

Or the fear question

"what if you may die and leave your family with nothig, by insurance?"

It's used all the time... Don't let this happen to you....
Now in the forgoten man, they state that 1in10 people had no job or hope of one. I would say that today, 1 in 10 people with out a job actualy wants one.

Housing stinks becouse we built to many...

Gas stinks becouse the rest of the world wants more of it.

But I don't here anything latly about the booming Natural gas business were I live..and they are making farmers into millioneers over night. Wireless towns are being built in places otherwise worthless.

Every time somone says somthing that makes you scared... remember he/she wants your money. I think that it's creating more income also. Woodstoves are selling like mad here... Garden plants and supplies.. chics and fowel are selling like crazy.. people make money off all that.

The people who don't need to plant a veggi are getting on the wagon. At this point I see many who are competing to out grow the jones.

[rAcErRicK]

Hey Guys, just wondering if anyone has heard the "giant sucking sound, of jobs leaving America", that Ross Perot warned us about if we put hillbillary in the white house ? Does anyone remember that ? I do, like it was yesterday. Seems to me that the sucking sound has about stopped, and now the sound is of the internal collapse that is bound to come thereafter, without anything to support our nation. :-/

The "sucking sound" was a gradual thing, started out low, and as we adapted to it, it got louder, and we adapted to that. The collapse will not be gradual, nor will it be quiet. I think it's time to fasten our seat belts, as Don Garletts used to say, "THIS WILL BE A SMOKING FLIGHT !"

[Katrina-Sisu]

Carol wrote it best.

People seem to be putting their head in the sand and not wanting to think about the reality of it.

I just remember my 5th grade teacher. He said he was made fun of being a farmer's kid right before the Great Depression. When the Depression hit, all the same people came to his family's doorstep looking for work or any handouts they could get.

Kat

[walls0stone]

Carolanne said it's like you people want it to be bad... IT"S NOT '29!!!!!!!!!!!

This self pitty crap get's dems elected.

[Fred_47460]

OzarksJohn....you hit the nail squarely...the perfect description... SURREAL !! Do you remember when we were kids there was a term "common sense" ?? How often now in the TV News are we told an absolutely complete lie. Or how often does the news try to LEAD you towards a certain "spin" on the news? It's a great hoot to listen to NPR news in the mornings on my drive to work.....sometimes I just have to turn it off though.

People are clueless!! As long as they can go home and watch 8 hours of their favorite TV programming they neither know, nor care. Now if anything ever interferes with their TV it gets their attention!

Let me ask you a separate question. With the exception of us and ours of course ;D ...doesn't this world DESERVE a good shaking?

Fred

[OzarksJohn]

Howdy.

I guess that the surreal feeling about these "questionable" or "troubled" times comes from whether or not what we see is true or what we hear is true. It's almost a real life case of the red pill/ blue pill from that crazy movie. Some people seem oblivious to everything except the cost of gas and groceries and others hardly even seem to be phased while buring $5.00 diesel at 13mpg in their RV and blowing money on frivolous entertainment while on vacation. I've come to question ANYTHING that the mainstream news reports especially if it's the "official" government report or a press conference.
I think that things such as the "economic stimulus" package that was rushed through smacks of desperation on the part of the government. Bread and circuses anyone? Welfare for everyone! Obama's even talking about a SECOND round of "economic stimulus" checks being a great idea. It's just like nothing makes sense even when you are looking right at it. ??? Yes, maybe this country does deserve a spanking, but the saddest part is that the sins of the father are suffered by the innocent. My kids(and yours) DO NOT deserve to reap what it appears we've sown. OzarksJohn

[CarolAnn]

I am of the belief that attitude is . . well, maybe not EVERYTHING, but it's a lot.

People's belief that things are going to hell in a handbasket will most certainly help speed them on the way. We will get a financial spanking, and it is well deserved but it is not the end of the world.

Prices will come down on houses. Some people will loose their homes and some will loose money. Some of that "money" is just a figure on paper - it's not "money" they ever really had, it's just equity they thought they had.

Maybe I'm financially naive - but money that I have worked for and gotten by the sweat of my brow seems a lot more real to me than money that someone else says I've gotten because of market conditions. If I haven't actually sold the item, whether it's real estate, stocks or other investments, their "value" is just a number on paper.

When my 401K started loosing more than it was gaining, I looked at it very critically. As long as it wasn't loosing my REAL money (the amount taken from my paycheck to invest) - I didn't like it, but I left it alone. When I started loosing MY money as well, I took it all out and invested it myself. I took a financial spanking on the taxes, but I personally belive that with millions of Americans putting their money into investments with every single paycheck, the market has an artificial prop that allows all kinds of irresponsible financial games to be played. The guys investing were making money when no one else was and I refused to be a part of it.

Now when the market continues to spiral down, I know my own "real" money is safe - but millions of people have lost (or will loose) not only the artificial gains on paper but the real money they contributed to the scam.

I consider it a shearing of the sheep, or maybe a blood letting of the unwary.

I am not one who thinks Democrats or Republicans are at fault. I believe Democrats AND Republicans are at fault. We who follow their "leadership" are at fault. We who trust and believe everything we are told are at fault.

Let the buyer beware - but when has it been any other way?

[walls0stone]

I think carol is right, it's about what the common person wants to think. I don't wish to put people off, but many of my friends have wealth..real wealth. Most of them came from nothing, not old money

I'd say those men are doing great becouse they don't waste time wondering about the end of the world...they just look at what's needed or what's going on and make money from that. For example, friends of mine in the garden supply business just hired on 3 kids to help. Best year in 3 generations of that small business.


local farmer Friend of mine just made 1.5 million bucks when the local gas company rented his mineral rights. He keeps the farm, and wacked the money up with his brothers..they paid off debts and can farm forever.

I think some people are just as guilty of looking for black clouds to hid under as others are about overlooking whatever.

[HockeyFan]

I wont say I'm not worried. I am. However, gas prices aren't that bad to affect us this way. America has just been spoiled. The rest of the world have been paying higher prices than this for decades. Those economies have grown and our's can too.
However, I think what we're affected by much much more than oil prices is the cost of money; the value of the dollar. This is affected by debt. We can't just point to the government. It's true that government spending is way, way, way out of control and we need a balanced budget ASAP (we need this much more than the bailouts or any stimulus check).
The thing is individual debt is just as bad, if not worse than the government. How can we expect the politicians to balance the budget, if the average American wont balance his?
Debt is so high that interest is going higher, and the value of the dollar continues to plummet.

I'm concerned. I'm definitely concerned. People aren't talking about debt in these terms. Certainly the average sheeple aren't talking about it. The national media isn't talking about it. I really don't see that it's on their radar at all. They point at oil and say "it's someone else's fault". "It's not my fault". "I don't have to be responsible". And so the problem just gets worse.

[pinetreefarm]

I don't think things are like the 29 crash. Remember there we other factors then besides the stock market. Many people fared it all just fine. Some rich, some not. Times can be hard, then not...just the ebb and flow.

I just think that America need a awakening. The MnMansions, the Starbucks life is trivial. People are having to center down and take stock in their lives. The big businesses that control your jobs are one thing but keep in mind that some big businesses are hurting very badly from your change in shopping habit.

I still think that ultimately we control the dollar. If we don't buy, big business loses. When we change our habits, lifestyles, our spending habit, then we win. Perhaps then big business will realize that we count, too.

I am unhappy about these times and optimistic about them also. I just hope I live long enough to see what happens.

Pine

[Terri]

I used to spen 100 a week for 4 people for groceries. I am now spending $150 and buying the same things.

Yes, we are in a downward spiral. I have no idea if it is going to stop soon or not. I am not WORRIED about it, but I am certainly being prudent at this time! I am pinching pennies at this time, because that money might be needed in the future!

Or not.

If I do not need to be this prudent, then I will end up with cash in the bank. If I DO need to be prudent, then I will have it!

I have no expectations at this time: I am just watching things!