1 – DEMISE OF THE US "EMPIRE" IN PROGRESS word count: 3,665
Both, the US and Russia today have enough destructive weapons to destroy our planet
several times over. Will either deliberately push the button, most likely not, but it could happen accidentally and that is scary, not to mention the potential rouge nation that may some day get their hands on such a weapon and use it indiscriminately.
The above not withstanding he US is on a collision course with history and there is no doubt in my mind that some day the US will self destruct, not with weapons but it’s way of wasteful and over-indulging way of life, similarly as the Romans did way back.
The US is a great country, offering lots of opportunities for smart and well-educated people that don’t mind working hard for what they want. But many Americans have a mindset that eventually will get most of us, and eventually the entire country into real trouble. Many of us feel that we have a god-given right to get whatever we want either by paying for it or using ever extended amounts of credit to acquire our desired goods and material things. The ingrained thinking of “ENTITLEMNT” will be our eventual downfall because wanting and getting more than we can afford can only lead to a massive financial disaster and that will be our downfall. Many of us want things now, instant gratification, and we will get it now no matter what it takes. Whatever happened to waiting and “earn” what you want, it usually gives us a much greater sense of gratification, but apparently our youth today does not buy this.
Don’t believe it, go back and read up on the history of the Roman Empire and you will get your
answer, what happened to them and eventually us as a country.
All starts with the decline in general of taking responsibility for ones actions and the sharp decline of social values and decency we once lived by. Listen to the news and see how many government officials and corporate big wigs are getting caught having cheated many of us out of our live savings and they do not seem to show or even attempt to at least fain any remorse and that is scary. Yet society in general should start a huge outcry at such a behavior, yet this is not happening. Why? Have we become too blasé or even to naïve to actually understand the predicament we are in?
REMEMBER THE ROMAN EMPIRE?
If so, you might remember what lead to its demise? Mainly living irresponsibly, in opulence and overindulgence all in the name of pleasure and the pursuit of material gains,
instant happiness, not to mention total wastefulness of resources caused by such a wasteful life style. We see it all around us that too many people live way past their means including the government, always spending way more than we can afford and racking up an ever growing debt that some day will have to be repaid. Nobody can say for sure when the bubble will burst and that is very worrisome indeed and I feel sorry for our young generation (my daughter and her husband) for being put in such a precarious financial and environmental situation as we have done.
China has been buying up our IOUS but we all should know that eventually they will come to collect, not to mention that they own perhaps 20% or more of our economy as they invest in our country thus getting more and more say in our affairs. Eventually we have to pay the piper, yet few seem to notice or even care if they do. What’s wrong with such a society that cannot see that it is self-destructing slowly by its over wasteful way of life? Are we so ignorant or arrogant to just gloss over this situation, surely nobody can be that dumb not to realize the potential consequences, but then again maybe we all are and that is very frightening indeed.
For years we have exported many of our manufacturing jobs to other countries, leaving many of our less educated work force with no marketing skills and jobs they can do, especially now in a world wide recession. What in the hell were we and our government and industry leaders thinking, leading us down this road? Obviously they did not think or care.
Well, look around yourself and you will see that many Americans engage in the same wasteful extravagant life style stemming from the ill-conceived notion of "entitlement". Unfortunately, the government has "promoted" this destructive way of thinking and lulled most people into believing that this is the way to live, promising instant gratification, never mind the cost and the fact that many of us got ever deeper into debt from which many won’t ever be able to escape. I got news for all of you that hang on to that idea and life style. This is exactly the way that will lead to the demise of the US in the not too distant future and most won't even see it coming because they are too ignorant, nor would they believe that it could happen if they were told so over and over.
Why has the government been busy creating such a consumer-oriented society where the gain and accumulation of material goods seems the one and most important aim??
For one reason, the more consumers buy and spend, the happier the government is as it brings money into it's coffers, allowing it to ever expand it's size and power, i.e. controlling the populace, contrary to their promise for a smaller government.
Ever wondered what brought on the current economical and financial mess and eventual demise of our society, as we know it today? The government "encourages" industry to offer, ever-larger assortments of ever more elaborate and expensive merchandise hoping that consumers keep buying. An active economy increases government spending with less and less oversight all around, getting us deeper and deeper into the financial morass with the result now very evident. Mind you, the US is perhaps not the only Western society that lives past it means but for the purpose of this article/book we are talking only about the US since we are supposed to be the leader of the world and trendsetter. Well this is one trend I hope not too many other countries are willing to follow, or are they?
The Highly over inflated housing market that just collapsed is the making of government policies, corporate greed and the ignorance and often stupidity of the public at large. How so you may ask, did this happen? By directing Fanny Mae and Freddy Mack to ever lower the requirements for homebuyers to purchase homes, people who had no business to ever buy a house were able to do so and now they are all defaulting because they are unable to pay the initially highly over inflated mortgages they should never have been granted. Government told lending institutions to loosen loan requirements to the point that people who had too low an income were allowed to buy homes with mortgages that were way over their heads in relations to their incomes. And now, the entire country is paying the price as the proverbial sh.. hits the fan. What makes me mad is that those that acted responsibly are paying the price as well as the current president is spending all our tax money to pay for these “bail-out” mortgage programs. The main problem with inflated housing prices is that most people act like this is a given and money in the bank so they borrow against the perceived value which really is only on paper, to purchase more and more material goods we often do not need, but want. Now that reality slowly sets in, people realize the folly of their ways and assumptions about perceived home values. Things started falling apart and for most there is no help nor way out of the mess they have gotten themselves into. What to do? Unfortunately it’s not just a few families that are affected by this financial meltdown its an ever growing part of the population dragging down the entire country and society in general.
Who is at fault?
1. The government who made it possible, no actually encouraged such low requirements,
for people that had no business buying such high priced homes.
2. Greedy lending institutions that were just too happy to give loans to potential home
buyers, that they knew damn well, many consumer could not afford and had a good
chance to eventually had to default on. Many people embellished their incomes,
outstanding debts and often outright lied to lenders to get the desired loan that would
get them their dream home they just had to have. Lending institutions rarely checked
incomes or verified other stated assets nor payment histories, all contributing factors
to the current dilemma. Those that bought years ago at a relative low price made out
big as home prices climbed to ever steeper heights, a situation that could not go on
forever but nobody wanted to hear about that, too many saw on paper how much
they thought they were worth never thinking logically. All good things must eventually
come to an end and so did the housing bonanza and unrealistic inflated prices and
now the house of cards is caving in leaving many crying the blues and often resulting in financial ruins.
3. Home owners them selves that wanted to get in on the home owner bonanza,
buying homes, they knew, or should have known, they could not afford and ignored
the inflated housing prices on which they built their optimism.
4. The housing industry had to know that the ever increasing spiral of home prizes could
not continue as it was in no relation to real values. But did they care? Of cause not,
as long as they made huge profits and commissions, they did not lose any sleep over
who eventually would pay for these over inflated prices
B - US use of world-wide natural resources
Consider this:
The US population represents one fifth of the world population, yet it uses about 25% of it's entire resources without ever giving it any consideration of the effect this totally irresponsible behavior does now and will later on have on the entire world. What arrogance and conceit, basically telling the world, we have ours and what's left you can fight over. Unfortunately, this seems to be the way our government has been, is and plans to keep operating until it's eventual downfall, which is sure to come, and it will serve everyone right having been so blind, ignorant, greedy and stupid.
Where did we go wrong?
I believe purposely, led by big government and big corporations, Americans (the eventual downfall of our country) with the help of the media we were sort of brainwashed into buying ever more merchandise we often did not need nor often could nor afford. Knowing how gullible and easily influenced Americans often are as many are programmed that they need to keep up with their neighbors, it is easy to see how they could be talked into keep buying even if it meant going deep into debt. After all, isn’t that the American way, buying on credit, getting what we want now, and pay later? Instant gratification has become a curse for many and unfortunately is a part of the American physic.
C- The fake oil crisis in the seventies
In the seventies, when we went through the staged and bogus "oil crisis", both the government, the auto industry and the many fickle consumers did not think, nor get the wakeup call, they should have recognized as a warning sign that some things ought to change. After all, if there was one so called “oil crisis” logic should have told us that the possibility of a repeat was very real, but did we listen, think or even care, absolutely not.
If they had, they would have thought about potential energy alternatives, bought smaller cars and quit wasting resources at an ever-increasing rate. The government "promoted" this buying frenzy and made it possible for consumers to buy and buy with ever larger
and increasing amount of debts, which now are biting us in the rear end and are part of the current financial mess we are facing, and rightly so, I might add. This is the typical example where the proverbial s… hits the fan. Is it a wonder, it certainly should not be, as something like that could not go on forever. Those who benefited from it did not want it to end and the users were too ignorant to realize what they were getting the country and themselves into, but now they found out and it’s time to pay the piper.
1. Car makers make more money on larger cars, so from a financial point of view it is
more profitable to sell larger cars, never mind the waste of precious resources.
2. Consumers refused to follow the lead of the Europeans, of buying smaller, more fuel
friendly and less resources wasting cars.
3. The government encouraged this scenario because it brought in ever larger sales tax
revenues and kept the economy humming, always a good thing for a government in
power that seeks reelection.
Everyone was happy – for a while – until the proverbial s… hit the fan in 2007 and more so in 2008 and now into 2009. I say, all three deserve the mess they are in today and will choke on for some time to come. It’s just a shame and an outrage that we will leave our children to face the repayment of the ever-mounting amount of debt we will leave them to deal with down the road. Did we think about what we were doing and the legacy we were leaving for the next generation, certainly not and that in part will be the downfall of our society just like years ago it happened to the Romans. Do people ever learn from the past, apparently not very often, as greed, power and the mighty dollar seem to cloud our judgment or else we would not make many of the decisions we are making.
It is impossible to actually spend your way out of trouble as now president Obama is doing.
Where will the money come from to eventually repay the TRILLIONS we are in debt? Is anyone listening or we all so dense that we cannot see the writing on the wall?
It’s just too bad that many of those that caused the mess we are in now will be dead while the younger generation (speak our children) will be the ones having to live with our irresponsible way of life. Will we ever acknowledge our follies and recklessness? I doubt it because we are too arrogant, stupid and ignorant to ever admit to our self-created mistakes. Americans in general are nice, friendly and helpful people, but have several "cultural" flaws and those are that will get them into trouble now and in the future leading the down fall of the US as a country and society. In addition we are so arrogant that we feel the need to tell others (countries) how to conduct their affairs in our manner. What makes us think what works in the US will or has to work everywhere?
1. The perceived ownership of "Entitlement", meaning I want now what I want, whether I
can afford it or not and our industry in general operate the same way by taking on
more debts than most European companies and individuals.
2. Being easily manipulated by the Government, big Jewish run Media and big
Corporations, all are saying "buy, buy, buy" now, and so we do.
3. People are too ignorant to understand that we cannot always have what we want
when we want it without dire consequences as we are learning now. Any debt
eventually will have to be repaid in one way or another, yet the government and most
financial institutions "encourage" consumer to get ever deeper into debt, all with their
sanction and the encouragement of government as it is good for the economy and big
business and greedy shareholders and well-off consumers and corporate businesses.
4. Not least, but perhaps most at fault – the US government, and the media, it's
spokes person, and manipulators. Americans are overly naïve, believing the media
blindly and the government as well, much to their dismay as they are now finding out.
5. When will we wake up and hold our government and elected officials accountable for
their actions? When will we demand that they put in a good days work and getting
things done instead to argue and refuse to make compromises so bills and policies can
and will get passed that benefit society and the working class instead the rich? Will we
ever learn and not be led around by the nose by smooth talking politicians that do as
they please once elected to fulfill their self interest and repaying debts from financial
backers that helped them getting elected.? After all, despite their campaign promises,
whose interest is of the utmost importance to most politicians? Their own, naturally,
which is why they do what they do, promise us what they believe we want to hear and
after election pursue their own goals and leaving their constituents hanging, holding the
bag.
6. What we need as well is transparency to know where our money goes and on what projects it is being spent so the government can not get away with spending it on items they well know we never would approve of. How long will it take us to wake up and demand such transparency?
D- Wealth distribution
Do most people know that 90% of this nations wealth is in the hand of no more than 5% of the population?
I would bet the answer is no, again because too many are to uninformed (not to say ignorant or dumb) to know better. In that sense we are becoming more and more like South America, which has a large class of poor people, having very little wealth and often not enough for the bare necessities, hardly any middle class and then the upper echelon of filthy rich that rule the country and have all the power. Do most realize that the US is getting more and more that way that the middle class is actually shrinking while the number of poor people is escalating? The fact that we let way too many unskilled and poor immigrants into this country does only make matters worth but does any one care or worse, is even aware of this?
What does that leave us with? A small elite group at the very top that have most of the money, power and make most important decisions which rarely benefit the average person.
Some people promote the idea to more heavily tax the very rich, hoping that there will be more for the lower classes. Sounds good in theory but actually could have a very negative opposite effect. Who do you think spends money on culture, the theater, the arts and museums and similar such items? The rich, providing jobs in the process for those that need them. If the rich and large corporations would be taxed too heavily, they would spend less on their factories, laying off more people and in general tighten their financial belts. However their life styles would not change much because they keep spending on themselves, after all, they earned the money they have, so why not, right?
Hearing about some CEOs and executives make salaries that seem in the stratosphere,
with it millions in salaries and bonuses? Seems somewhat out of proportion most would
think, and I agree. When a company executive makes more than the president of the most powerful nation in the world, the US, there seems to be something terrible wrong.
How do you feel when you hear of million dollar bonuses for such people that were responsible for running their companies into the ground and then leading them into bankruptcy and then quite often receiving large bailouts with taxpayer money? What will or can you do about that I ask you? We can do very little unless we are ready to revolt (not in our physic I am afraid) but or government MUST do something. We cannot elect such irresponsible officials that allow such situations to be; acting there is nothing wrong with such twisted theories. But will we wake up in time and actually do something about it? Not as long as most of us are fairly well off, have a job, a home, a car and generally life a relative good life.
Any bailout with tax payers money need to have very strict guidelines on how and on what that money can be spent on, and certainly not on big bonuses for CEOS that caused many failures and large deficits for their employers at taxpayers expense.
Money is power and power rules the world and that has been that way since the beginning of time or certainly since the beginning of the industrial revolution and that won’t change ever. We can bitch, groan and beat our fist against the wall but that will change nothing. What we as individuals can, no must do to affect any kind of change is this:
1. For one we need to become better educated and involved in our governments affairs.
2. This will lead to being better informed about matters affecting our daily lives.
3. Take a more active interest in matters going on in every level of government,
business and your daily life.
4. Hold all Government and industry officials more strictly accountable for all of their
actions, if you do not do this, nothing will ever change and that is a fact.
The government likes it when most citizen and consumers are undereducated and ignorant, the better they can manipulate us, which is what they have been doing for quite some time now, and we let them. In a way whatever we get, we deserve for being stupid and taking it.
So quit complaining, do something or nothing will change – ever.
The above may sound very sober and many perhaps believe this to be way too negatively stated, well I caution all not to believe this because we are in trouble individually and therefore our country collectively. Will we wake up and sober up in time, only time will tell.
Jurgen Ankenbrand Ankenbrand@aol.com www.photographybyjurgen.com
