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Page added on July 17, 2020
Kunstler: A Bigger Picture
Baluchitherium. Gone but not forgotten.
The Covid-19 virus itself didn’t run the United States into a ditch but it exposed the weakness and rot in the nation’s drive-train, and now all of us passengers on that disabled bus must decide whether to stay helplessly inside the smoldering wreckage arguing over who’s to blame, or begin a long, uncertain march down the road on our own two feet to a place of new arrangements.
In 1918, the country was lashed by a far deadlier pandemic disease at the same time it was fighting a world war, and daily life barely missed a step. The economy then was emphatically one of production, not the mere consumption of things made elsewhere in the world (exchanged for US IOUs), nor of tanning parlors, nail salons, streaming services, and Pilates studios. The economy was a mix of large, medium, and small enterprises, not just floundering giants, especially in the retail commerce of goods. We lived distributed in towns, cities not-yet-overgrown, and a distinctly rural landscape devoted to rural activities — not the vast demolition derby of entropic suburbia that has no future as a human habitat. Banking was only five percent of the economy, not the bloated matrix of rackets now swollen to more than forty percent of so-called GDP. Government at the federal and state levels was miniscule compared to the suffocating, parasitic leviathan it is now.
What happened? Like Hemingway’s old quip about a man going broke slowly and then all-at-once, we allowed everything in American life to creep into hapless giantism too cumbersome to adapt to new conditions, and suddenly conditions have changed. And now it’s all coming apart: the dying chain stores, the giant zombie companies that can only exist by borrowing money to buy back their own stocks, the auto-makers who have run out of lending schemes for non-creditworthy customers, the shale oil fracking companies that could never make a red cent, the agri-biz farmers grown morbidly obese on a diet of credit and government subsidies (just like their end-customers grew obese on engineered snack-foods), the Wall Street lords of financialization hypothecating fortunes by leveraging the stripped assets of everything not nailed down from sea to shining sea, the swelling underclass conditioned to helplessness, addiction, and vice, the inescapable ambient tyranny of media hype, propaganda, and disinformation, and, of course, the catastrophe that government has become.
Get this: none of these things now wobbling and staggering will be resurrected. They’re all going extinct, like the Baluchitherium of the Oligocene. To keep propping them up — as the Federal Reserve sedulously props up financial markets — will only promote the illusion that we don’t have to move on and conduct daily human life differently. A worldwide contraction was already underway before Covid-19 stepped onstage. The contraction was sending a very loud and clear message: gigantism went as far as it could go and now it’s up to the smaller and nimbler to carry on. Beware the promises of the sclerotic authorities asking you to remain in thrall to them — and dependent on them.
Expect these authorities to screw up even the next big exercise in their own franchise: the 2020 election. It will be the climax to a season of political hysteria and will complete the chapter of our history that left us on that smoldering big bus in the ditch. The scramble away from that disaster scene will be frightful and desperate. No matter who ends up in control of the government — or pretends to be — the same forces of contraction and decomplexifying will actually rule and you will have to act accordingly.
Many people will seek to escape the places they live now to find new homes and livelihoods elsewhere. These demographic movements are already underway. New York City is hemorrhaging much of its tax base as the wealthy flee, Chicago too, and the whole state of California. These places will be overwhelmed by functional bankruptcy, even if legal legerdemain allows them to avoid declaring it. Other states, counties and municipalities — including many suburban blobs — will also founder, meaning all the usual support systems and safety nets vanish. Many supply chains will break. Money may either be scarce or worthless, which are two ways of going broke.
Right now, start planning where you might go and what you can do. The turmoil will be filled with opportunity to find ways to be useful to other people, to devise work-arounds for ruptured systems and relationships, in getting food to people, making things they need, distributing them, fixing things that are broken where possible, and moving people and stuff from point A to point B. There will be plenty of work for people who are willing to do it. Keep in mind that it’s entirely up to you to make good choices.
Don’t despair, and if you find yourself veering toward it, get over yourself. It’s just part of becoming stronger than you thought you could be, and the times will require it of you anyway. The offices that gave out brownie points for avouched victimhood will also be shutting down. Won’t that be a relief? Welcome to the joyful illumination that life is difficult for everybody. Who is ready for this epic journey?
87 Comments on "Kunstler: A Bigger Picture"
FamousDrScanlon on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 1:31 pm
Wherever you run to, you’ll still be there along with you fellow spiritually & morally bankrupt citizens.
There is no geographical cure for American disease.
Since you refuse to humble yourselves, you shall be humiliated instead.
Seriously, did anyone really think, deep down, that it was going to end any other way?
SocialRevolutionComing on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 2:11 pm
Amused to Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpotZUiKLbU
Life is pain and misry. Look for David benetar anti natalist. Death is better then pain and misery. I disagree with kunstler that life must prevail at all cost
RPG on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 3:26 pm
There is a lot of racism against whites (example: attacks on farmers in South Africa), something the mainstream media won’t talk about. As for the movements in Amerika (BLM and Antifa), they are the worst thugs in America.
RPG on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 3:28 pm
The West is suffering from illegal immigration, thanks to open borders and dicks like Soros.
Chrome Mags on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 3:39 pm
On the surface the immediate view of the economy is dim, but that could change quickly if a vaccine makes BAU non-dangerous again for customers.
Abraham van Helsing on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 4:58 pm
“New York City is hemorrhaging much of its tax base as the wealthy flee, Chicago too, and the whole state of California. These places will be overwhelmed by functional bankruptcy, even if legal legerdemain allows them to avoid declaring it“
The libtard, not so “shining coasts”, the next fly-over countries. According to Bill Maher recently, they were the places to be. Bill was lying.
RPG on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 5:02 pm
Nick Griffin should be Britain’s next PM in the near future. Nationalism and identity matters.
Theedrich on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 5:11 pm
The Dems want more dead White cops. Pleases their Negro base. So we can expect more riots, more murders and mayhem in all big Democrat-run cities, leading to a Dem win of the government in November of this year. Meanwhile, the plummeting White fertility rate, which the White genosuicidist elites are trying to make up for by importing subhumans, means that Western civilization is ending. The genosuicidists, of course, together with mulattoes, mestizos and other chimaeras, exult at the prospect, being too dense to understand that their own existence depends on Whitey.
The only possibility of hope lies in the prospect of U.S. collapse. But, given its desperate measures of printing money to stay on life support, the government may generate another war to whip up “patriotism.” But the die has been cast. All roads now lead to hell.
SocialRevolutionComing on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 5:40 pm
I agree with this comment:
Theedrich on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 5:11 pm
The Dems want more dead White cops. Pleases their Negro base. So we can expect more riots, more murders and mayhem in all big Democrat-run cities, leading to a Dem win of the government in November of this year. Meanwhile, the plummeting White fertility rate, which the White genosuicidist elites are trying to make up for by importing subhumans, means that Western civilization is ending. The genosuicidists, of course, together with mulattoes, mestizos and other chimaeras, exult at the prospect, being too dense to understand that their own existence depends on Whitey.
The only possibility of hope lies in the prospect of U.S. collapse. But, given its desperate measures of printing money to stay on life support, the government may generate another war to whip up “patriotism.” But the die has been cast. All roads now lead to hell.
We’ve Reached the End of White Christian America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcKT5TFkfrE
llook05
il y a 1 semaine
Once a homogenous founder population dwindles, the civilization/empire founded by that population collapses with it. There is no precedent to suggest that a civilization
can survive without a strong commonality of values, morals and culture—the US & Europe are naive or ignorant to believe we could survive without it. Collapse is imminent.
No new civilisation wil be built after this one dies. Demongraphic and peak oil will make it impossible.
RPG on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 5:43 pm
Patriotism is love for ones country, not extremism.
makati1 on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 5:55 pm
Whoops! Covid-19 greased the slide of Amerika into the world of Bangladesh. It is condensing 10 years into 1 or 2. The US will NOT return to 2019 financial levels or lifestyle, ever. Adjust and prep for even worse to come, Amerikans.
Duncan Idaho on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 6:04 pm
kakistocracy (plural kakistocracies)
Government under the control of a nation’s worst or least-qualified citizens.
Duncan Idaho on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 6:19 pm
Ex-officer accused of human rights crimes in Argentina found living in Berlin
(Luis Esteban Kyburg, who allegedly oversaw deaths of at least 150 during dictatorship, escaped to Germany in 2013)
The Fat Boy has his eye on him for a cabinet position.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/17/luis-esteban-kyburg-argentina-dictatorship-berlin-germany
makati1 on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 6:26 pm
Amerika! Kakisto in spades! Oops! Is “spades” an un-PC word these days?
“A mildly prerogative term for a black male.”
https://www.azdictionary.com/what-does-spade-mean
It would be soooo difficult to live in Police State Amerika these days. Someone may hear you talk about your garden shovel and call the cops.
JuanP on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 7:09 pm
“kakistocracy (plural kakistocracies) Government under the control of a nation’s worst or least-qualified citizens.”
Duncan, your definition fits New York, California, Chicago, Portland, and Seattle perfectly. Thank you
Duncan Idaho on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 7:27 pm
Well, I stand corrected, they do produce some useful items:
https://img.ifunny.co/images/d7ddcb81eee9d0d1e6ede62d602aeebd9c94ea9db057110c2ad750409e8be050_1.jpg
FamousDrScanlon on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 10:12 pm
Running the World, Since 1776
“Lately, there doesn’t seem to be a week that goes by without another viral video of some white American going ballistic in public. Even before an outright racist was put in the Oval Office, in the age of social media we have been allowed to see countless moments of racist intimidation and threats that, although common, were most often hidden from public view. But the latest spate of outbursts seems to be related to mask wearing in stores and other public spaces to stem the spread of Covid-19. One incident involved a man in a Costco store in Florida who screamed at an elderly woman who asked him to wear a mask. The man yelled: “I feel threatened! Back off! Threaten me again!” as he stepped toward the woman in a threatening manner. This moment of unhinged rage would be like every other if it were not one other glaring characteristic about the man. He was wearing a t-shirt that read: “Running the world since 1776.”
To most Americans there is nothing odd about this t-shirt. I lived most of my life in the States and I understand the mindset. American Exceptionalism is a noxious myth that permeates virtually every aspect of the culture. It is embedded in almost every speech given by politicians from either side of the aisle. There was Ronald Reagan, the man who supported rightwing death squads and genocidaires in Central America, who described the US as being “a shining city upon a hill.” And there was Hillary Clinton who said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations that the US is “the indispensable nation.” This was in 2013 after the invasion of Iraq. After Libya. After scores of atrocities committed by the American military and intelligence establishment. She went on to say: “we are a force for progress, prosperity, and peace.” Orwellian doublespeak in real time.
Indeed, Americans are constantly told they “live in the greatest country on earth.” But even prior to the pandemic around 60% of the population was not in possession of a passport. Meaning, most Americans have never been to another country, not even to one neighboring them to the north or south. So how, then, did they know they were the greatest country on earth? The oft used argument is that it is because so many people are clamouring to “get in.” Yet few Americans bother to ask why there are so many immigrants from certain countries as opposed to others.”
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/07/17/running-the-world-since-1776/
Kevin Cobley on Fri, 17th Jul 2020 10:54 pm
North American city dwellers can’t “migrate to small town America, the small towns would simply become big cities. Big cities are a function of Population.
Is Kunstler proposing de population as the final solution?
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 3:58 am
Record number of infections in the US and world-wide. Barcelona, California and NYC reverse exit from lockdown.
https://www.ed.nl/dossier-coronavirus/live-nieuwe-lockdown-barcelona-ingegaan-weer-recordaantal-besmettingen-vs~a4151142/
The virus won’t go away any time soon. Could easily last 2 years. Bye-bye flying, events, stadiums, cinemas, theaters.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:04 am
After the third world, it is now the squirrels who grasp the benevolence of white man:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcz3h7HPfKU
Somehow I prefer the squirrels. For them water is enough.
Davy on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:50 am
“North American city dwellers can’t “migrate to small town America, the small towns would simply become big cities. Big cities are a function of Population. Is Kunstler proposing de population as the final solution?”
A great deal of migration can happen but also at great pain and loss of affluence that localism will amount to. Your Australia is even worse off because you don’t have much small town to migrate to with your country turning into a desert and much of it being desert already.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 10:36 am
Trump recaptures Portland. “Protesters” are arrested and driven away in unregistered cars:
https://www.geenstijl.nl/5154458/trump-annexeert-portland-federale-agenten-trekken-demonstranten-in-ongemarkeerde-auto-s/
Davy on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 10:50 am
It is so nice when the juanPee, the troll and lunatic is gone. Maybe this forum will start attracting smart people again.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 11:03 am
New video from 2015 with Trump talking about Epstein:
https://www.infowars.com/2015-video-shows-trump-denouncing-epsteins-pedo-island-as-an-absolute-cesspool/
“2015 VIDEO SHOWS TRUMP DENOUNCING EPSTEIN’S PEDO ISLAND AS AN “ABSOLUTE CESSPOOL””
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 11:15 am
“Bill Clinton does not have the moral fiber to be a mass murderer.”
— Henry Kissinger (moral insider & one who would know),
Republicon snowflakes on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:04 pm
The RepubliCONS stand for nothing except endless bitching and backbiting, whining, complaining, and victimhood. Never do they espouse what it is they stand for that is the natural outcome of moral corruption and intellectual bankruptcy.
RepubliCON Platform:
1. Rejection of science, including global climate change.
2. Delegitimize and destroy government institutions.
3. Total control over a woman’s reproductive health.
4. Record-setting budget deficits.
5. Total war on the natural world.
6. Hate.
REAL Green Hypocrite on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:10 pm
It is so nice when DavySkum the troll and lunatic is gone. Maybe this forum will start attracting smart people again.
Dredd on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:17 pm
“the agri-biz farmers grown morbidly obese on a diet of credit and government subsidies (just like their end-customers grew obese on engineered snack-foods)” – Kuntsler
Consider the Pogo Principle (
On The Origin Of The Home Of COVID-19 – 10 ).
Davy on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:23 pm
GOOD News Across the Board
House Rating Changes: 20 Races Move Towards Democrats
Second Quarter FEC Reports: Democrats’ Money Machine Shows No Sign of Stopping
A Coming Flood of Money to Democratic Senators and Challengers
the board on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:25 pm
JuanP on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:23 pm
“GOOD News Across the Board House Rating Changes: 20 Races Move Towards Democrats
Second Quarter FEC Reports: Democrats’ Money Machine Shows No Sign of Stopping
A Coming Flood of Money to Democratic Senators and Challengers”
juanPee, you are an illegal immigrant, worry about your own country and leave us alone.
the board on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:27 pm
JuanP on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:10 pm
“It is so nice when DavySkum the troll and lunatic is gone. Maybe this forum will start attracting smart people again.”
JuanP is up. He got up off the couch from his fetal position because he is triggered him
the board on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:30 pm
JuanP on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:04 pm
“The RepubliCONS stand for nothing except endless bitching and backbiting, whining, complaining, and victimhood. Never do they espouse what it is they stand for that is the natural outcome of moral corruption and intellectual bankruptcy.”
RepubliCON Platform:
1. Rejection of science, including global climate change.
2. Delegitimize and destroy government institutions.
3. Total control over a woman’s reproductive health.
4. Record-setting budget deficits.
5. Total war on the natural world.
6. Hate.”
Then juanPee, why did you say this:
JuanP on Thu, 30th Jun 2016 4:56 pm
“Go Trump! Anyone but Hillary! My wife and I are considering volunteering for the Trump campaign to fight the narcissistic, psychopathic bitch. I think I could use my antisocial, psychopathic, sociopathic skills to convince people to vote for Trump. I can be very convincing when I want and I am excellent at manipulating people.”
JuanP on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:32 pm
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 11:15 am
“Bill Clinton does not have the moral fiber to be a mass murderer.”
— Henry Kissinger (moral insider & one who would know),”
Duncan, Bill is the pedophile, Hillary is the mass murderer.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 12:48 pm
“Duncan, Bill is the pedophile, Hillary is the mass murderer.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DXDU48RHLU
Piglet.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 1:12 pm
Now you’re talking!
https://www.infowars.com/video-blm-activist-calls-for-abolition-of-united-states-as-we-know-it/
“VIDEO: BLM ACTIVIST CALLS FOR ‘ABOLITION OF UNITED STATES AS WE KNOW IT’“
(although the witch probably has a different idea of how the US should look like: anti-white, but no secession. Whites should become prisoners and cow that needs to be milked).
supertards we are all michael jackson now he was ahead of the time he wrote the mask way before everyone did and in some part of the world especially china people have been wearing face DIAPER-19 for many decades prior to this CONVICT-19 disater on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 1:20 pm
of epic proprotion
we are all in tis together people pleae do your part and take the MUZZ-19 VAX-19 by DROPOUT-19 who sold buggy WINDOZE-19 and mixed together some chemicals with his sperms in buckets in his mega mansion in washington or somewhere
please love supremacis tmuzzes more
please love supreme goat
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 2:19 pm
Exactly my kinda guys!
https://www.rt.com/usa/495109-nfac-black-militia-blm/
“Leader of radical black-only militia NFAC ‘believes in violence’ & wants a real-life Wakanda for every black person in America“
These types want a blacks-only state on US soil. What’s not too like!
Hoppa anonymousy, in the train and meet the bros. Your own reserve at last! Never be bothered with racism again. Never be bothered with self-driving cars, electric flying and all dat shit.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 2:46 pm
Haha, JK, White be The Devil. Also, the place to be in IN MY BUTT! Door’s open, all are welcum!
I AM THE MOB on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 3:29 pm
LoL Alex jones your hero (and obese fraud). No wonder you follow his every word like it is the gospel. He is as dumb and useless as you are cloggo
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:20 pm
Seems like a testing out of a fascist takeover.
(Portland)
SocialRevolutionComing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:28 pm
Coronavirus Updates: Florida’s Broward County Sets Curfew; Newsom Orders California Schools Online
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5I68HsjqS4
Florida officials imposed a nightly curfew in Broward County on Friday to combat the spread of Covid-19 that’s in effect from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily. County Administrator Bertha Henry issued an emergency order to make the curfew mandatory and it will last through Aug. 1
Florida reported 327,241 Covid-19 cases on Friday, up 3.6% from a day earlier, compared with an average increase of 4.5% in the previous seven days. The state recorded 128 more deaths, an increase of 2.7%, down from the record 156 a day earlier. Total fatalities among Florida residents were reached 4,805, according to the state Department of Health report, which includes data through Thursday.
California said public schools in the state’s hardest-hit counties won’t be able to open for on-campus classes until the spread of the coronavirus in that area is contained. The order means that students in counties accounting for more than 70% of the state’s population will likely switch to remote learning for the beginning of the school year.
“The virus will be with us for a year or more, and school districts must provide meaningful instruction in the midst of this pandemic,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “In California, health data will determine when a school can be physically open -– and when it must close –- but learning should never stop. Students, staff, and parents all prefer in-classroom instruction, but only if it can be done safely.”
California reported 9,986 new virus cases, an increase of 2.8%, and another 130 deaths. Of the state’s 58 counties, 33 are on a “monitoring list” that have showed troubling trends.
House Democrats are criticizing the White House for blocking the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from testifying at a public hearing on safely reopening the nation’s schools.
Democrats said they invited CDC officials, including director Robert Redfield, to testify at a hearing next Thursday but were rebuffed by the White House. A committee spokesperson said the panel asked for any CDC official to testify but was rejected.
Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, called it alarming that the Trump administration would prevent CDC officials from appearing before the committee “at a time when its expertise and guidance is so critical to the health and safety of students, parents, and educators.″
Amused to Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpotZUiKLbU
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:31 pm
“Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab someone off the street we call it kidnapping”
They are using fascist tactics from Nazi Germany.
zero juan on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:37 pm
Afternoon with the lunatic:
SocialRevolutionComing said Coronavirus Updates: Florida’s Broward Count…
FamousDrScanlon said Enjoy the rest of the summer you miserable cunts….
supertards we are all michael jackson now he was ahead of the time he wrote the mask way before everyone did and in some part of the world especially china people have been wearing face DIAPER-19 for many decades prior to this CONVICT-19 disater said of epic proprotion we are all in tis together peo…
JuanP on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:38 pm
“They are using fascist tactics from Nazi Germany.”
Yea, Duncan, on fascist. I hope they hall you in too.
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:38 pm
The Disappeared, Like Chile or Argentina Dictatorships, and This is Just a Trump Test Run: Federal Officers Use Unmarked Vehicles To Kidnap People In Portland, DHS Confirms
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:39 pm
“They are using fascist tactics from Nazi Germany.”
Nazis are sexy, very much unlike you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5prXKdAzJ0
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d5/95/a0/d595a008a3aff68739351fe7fdb78309.jpg
You are just a resentful leftist dullard with a chicken chest, thick glasses, hairy armpit, who stutters and can’t get laid.
Oh wait, Duncan never reacts. He is apneaman’s sock for one-way propaganda, just like with the MSM. Sort of local CNN. Duncan doesn’t discuss, he just broadcasts is neo-bolshevik propaganda.
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:47 pm
Trump’s Robocops on the move
https://digbysblog.net/2020/07/trumps-robocops-on-the-move/
Duncan Idaho on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:53 pm
A Nation of Trolls: Is it Even Worthwhile to Discuss with Trumpies Anymore?
https://www.juancole.com/2020/07/worthwhile-discuss-trumpies.html
JuanP on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:57 pm
Duncan, you are the Trump deranged troll. You don’t even have the balls to debate any of your puke.
Abraham van Helsing on Sat, 18th Jul 2020 4:57 pm
“A Nation of Trolls: Is it Even Worthwhile to Discuss with Trumpies Anymore?”
No it isn’t. The country is over. Completely uninterested in the opinions from people with names like “BAHMAN FOZOUNI”:
https://www.juancole.com/2020/07/worthwhile-discuss-trumpies.html
Just go to Wakanda, “the most technologically advanced country in da world”. For starters, they all have self-driving cars, honest!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakanda