[vision-master]

Let's swim to the Moon

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'A')merica isn't uniformly like any particular European country, and I'm not quite sure that sentence evokes anything other than a generic, placid image of a middle class, salaried professional, having a pleasant lunch, at a sophisticated sidewalk cafe, in a spiffy part of Paris.

[vision-master]

Paris is suppose to be one of the best places to live in the World - bring moola.

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '
')But with all the problems we have, the US is still the largest and richest economy in the world. You're arguing in favor of a third world America, but that doesn't mean there isn't another option. Our peers are Canada, France, Germany, and Britain -- not Ecuador and Timbuktu.

[SeaGypsy]

How long will the fantasy prevail over real need?

6'strings, don't you get it that your country allowed the greatest scam ever by deregulating banking whilst hyper-regulating aspects of life likely to assist independence/ downsizing/ community sustainability? It's actually in the category of evil. This and it's suckers believing otherwise leading to continuation of inexorable slide into something worse than 3rd world.

You are so turned off by something which is in fact the only option to absolute degeneration. This is why both sides of your joke try to sell the return to growth story endlessly, they want/ need you all to be dependent on the b/s system.

Fact is there will never be a return to pre-peak oil growth in the USA. There will be a necessity for people to feed themselves and do things in a much more '3rd world' style. Wishfull thinking will not make it otherwise.

You seem horrified by a picture of a kid playing in a drain. Amazing how much you read into this picture. I have seen far far worse than this in Australia, with our mega welfare and universal medicare.

It is not realistic to pick out an image as some declaration of what life is like in the 3rd world. There is something much worse than this, it's called a failed state. By not permitting/ encouraging 3rd world style adaptations the US becomes increasingly more likely to end up as a failed state.

You are still thinking about ending up living like Norwegians or Australians or whatever 1st world comparison you wish to make. You forget that you are living in the country first affected and most affected by peak oil. No magic trick will undo this situation, the best they can do is debt fueled spending until the jig is finally up.
Kicking the can down the road.

[Oneaboveall]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', '.')..Sixstrings, perhaps you are the one who holds on to a concept of America that may no longer be possible. I don't really know. But I don't advocate 3rd world living standards for the USA.......it is happening on its own quite efficiently with out my humble opinions.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'Y')ou seem horrified by a picture of a kid playing in a drain. Amazing how much you read into this picture. I have seen far far worse than this in Australia, with our mega welfare and universal medicare.

[The Practician]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Oneaboveall', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ibon', '.')..Sixstrings, perhaps you are the one who holds on to a concept of America that may no longer be possible. I don't really know. But I don't advocate 3rd world living standards for the USA.......it is happening on its own quite efficiently with out my humble opinions.

[vision-master]

6, you live in Florida, get yourself a scooter. I can cruise around town for a good three hours and only burn about 1/2 gal of fuel. Park that car unless you really need it.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '6'), you live in Florida, get yourself a scooter. I can cruise around town for a good three hours and only burn about 1/2 gal of fuel. Park that car unless you really need it.

[Ibon]

In India a few years ago I had an insight that their modernization is just adding another layer onto an already multi-layered society made up of a sweep of socio-economic categories from the very wealthy to the very very poor. So the emerging affluence in India co exists side by side with the social stratification that has existed for hundreds of years.

In America for over 100 years we have had back country Appalachia, Mississippi and Louisiana, Indigenous reservations, inner city ghettos. A multi layered social stratification that was out of sight and out of mind and not reflected in the main stream media. The world and the majority of US citizens did not include these disenfranchised in their "conceptualization" of America.

What is happening in America is what has happened in India. Only reversed. We are adding a layer on to the diverse social stratification.

That this social stratification is including former members of the mainstream; white former middle class Americans, is perhaps somewhat jarring for those that never included this demographic.

That is requiring some re calibration of what America is today.

This re calibration is happening on a global scale as reflected in the financial markets as well.

There is no country to replace America's former hegemony. The world is without a credible role model as all countries are now in un chartered waters.

Unstable times are inherently anxiety prone and volatile but also the catalysts for new beginnings.