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Activist Post
Many people hype "the coming economic collapse" as if it is some kind of big summer Hollywood blockbuster. Many people out there write about it as if it is something that will happen in a single day or over a few weeks and that it will suddenly change how the entire world functions. But that is not how the financial world works.
The financial world is like a game of chess - very slow and methodical. Yes, there are times when things happen very quickly (like back in 2008), but even that crisis played out over a number of months. Sadly, most Americans are not used to thinking in terms of months or years.
These days, most Americans have the attention span of a goldfish and most Americans have been trained to expect instant gratification. They are simply not accustomed to being patient and to wait for things.
Well, despite what you may have read, the economic collapse is not going to be a single event. It is going to play out over quite a few years. In some ways we are experiencing an economic collapse right now. When the next major financial crisis occurs, many will be calling that "an economic collapse". But if you really want to grasp what is happening to us, you need to think long-term. We are heading for a complete and total nightmare, but it is going to take some time to get to the end of the story.
Yes, there will certainly be times of great chaos. The financial crisis of 2008 was one of those moments. But the financial crisis of 2008 did not completely destroy us. Neither will the next crisis.
I think it is helpful to think of what is happening to us as a series of waves. When you build a beautiful sand castle on the beach, the first wave that comes in does not totally destroy it. Rather, the first wave weakens the castle and it is destroyed by subsequent waves. Well, that is what is happening to us.
The financial crisis of 2008 was a wave. The epicenter of the next great financial crisis will be in Europe and that will be another wave. For many, the next financial crisis will feel like "the end of the world" but it won't be. There will be waves after that one that will be even worse. Yes, the waves are going to start coming more rapidly and will start becoming more intense. In that way, they will kind of be like birth pains.
But these problems did not build up overnight and they are not going to disappear overnight either.
A lot of people that write about the coming economic collapse seem to suggest that we should just let it happen so that the "recovery" can begin. Unfortunately, it is not going to be so simple. It took decades to build up a national debt of almost 16 trillion dollars. It took decades for American consumers to build up the greatest consumer debt bubble in the history of the world. It took decades to gut the economic infrastructure of the United States and ship millions of our jobs overseas.
These problems are going to plague us for a very long time.
Sadly, a lot of people out there seem to wish for an economic apocalypse. They seem to think that if the global financial system crashes that the government is going to disappear and we are going to start fighting with each other using sharp pointed sticks. Well, it simply is not going to happen.
The U.S. government is not going to help you survive when things hit the fan, but it is not going to disappear either. In fact, the federal government will probably try to grab more power than ever in an attempt to "restore order".
The governments of Europe are not going to disappear either. In fact, in the long run Europe is probably going to end up more "federalized" than ever even if the euro breaks up in the short run.
A lot of people out there seem to think that when the old system collapses that it will give them an opportunity to help put in a new system. Sorry, but that is not going to happen either. The powers that be are going to have their own ideas about what needs to happen.
They never like to let a good crisis go to waste, and they will certainly try to use every crisis to shape the world even more in their own image. The coming economic collapse is going to play out over a number of years and it is going to be absolutely horrible. Billions of people will deeply suffer because of it. It will be unlike anything any of us have ever seen.
Personally, I believe that it will eventually be much worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The United States is going to get hit particularly hard. The United States is going to lose its position as the leading economic power on the globe and the U.S. dollar is going to lose its position as the default reserve currency of the world.
If you thought that the unemployment crisis during the last recession was bad, just wait until you see what is coming. We are heading for a complete and total unemployment nightmare in the United States. Unemployment is eventually going to soar well up into the double digits. The U.S. government will try a wide variety of measures to try to "fix" things, and some will likely have some limited success. But the debt-fueled prosperity that we are all enjoying now is going to come to an end. Many communities all over America will degenerate into rotting cesspools. There are going to be riots in our major cities, crime and looting will be absolutely rampant and it will seem like society is coming apart at the seams.
The U.S. government will likely respond by becoming more authoritarian than ever, and that will truly be frightening. But all of this is going to play out over time. Right now, things are not as good as they were five years ago. A couple of years from now, things will be even worse. Many of us will look back and wish that we could return to the "good old days" of 2011 and 2012.
We are on a decline that is not going to stop. There will be little false bubbles of hope like we are in now, but they won't last long.
But just because the economy is falling apart does not mean that your life is over. Many that are busy preparing right now will be greatly blessed even in the middle of all the chaos.
And it is when things are the darkest that the greatest lights are needed. Make the decision right now to be a light during the times ahead. You can choose to let the times that are coming destroy you, or you can choose to make them the greatest adventure of your life.
The choice is up to you.
This article first appeared here at the Economic Collapse Blog. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.
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6 comments:
It could even lead to a human population collapse on the petri-planet Earth! In a couple of generations, no one will even remember the good ol' days.
If old TV shows are somehow rescued, the denizens of tomorrow will wonder where the cow-people of the past kept their heads a night.
What your describing is a "controlled" decline which is exactly what is planned for. As you pointed out, under those circumstances power will indeed be centralized even more.
However, I do not think it wise to dismiss the possibility of a sudden fall. The fiat banking economy is stretched to the tune of trillions beyond actual global assets. It is possible, and even likely, that the "debt bubble" will collapse suddenly. All it will take is a loss of faith in fiat currency and a refusal to settle debt for other value.
As for power structures under the current system, banks and government cannot exist one without the other. When one weakens and falls it will take the other with it.
The power brokers have a tiger by the tail and they think they can control it. We shall see.
Awesomely put, Michael. Precisely because the coming years will call for the kind of long-range courage, conviction and compassion we are used to hearing of only in myths (modern or ancient), it will allow people who have suffered already to begin to shine amidst the lowering material standards. As values change so will people, and I believe we will see many people becoming altruistic faster than we would have thought possible... when the need for their greatness arises. This is all dependent on people forming communities though. Only for the sake of others dear will humans choose to show courage. Alone is a fear game, always was, always will be.
It's a game of musical chairs where most of the public is blindfolded.
While everyone goes around the circle and grabs for a chair when the music stops; the elite are the ones pulling the chairs, holding the chairs, playing the music, and deciding when the music ends. It's rigged.
The only thing they can't control is the chaos when the music stops. That's also when some of the blindfolds comeoff inadvertently and the game can be seen. Then it's damage control- play the music louder.
Take those without blindfolds to be included in the scam or take them out since they don't want to play the game anymore.
At some point in the chaos will be out of control when enough people are no longer blindfolded and people start throwing the chairs calling the game out.
Juniper- Joelarnda
It's a game of musical chairs where most of the public is blindfolded. - good analysis
I would go a step further... Not blindfolded but actively distracted with utter nonsense (TV, misinformation, texting, video games)
The lack of basic education skills and me, me , me ... I am ENTITLED to whatever I want to have mentality is slowly destroying a country built on solid principles. It's really sad!
I am glad that some of us at least are seeing the writing on the wall. The time to prepare is NOW! We are stocking up on food storage to prepare for what is surely to come. Check out www.SRMarketplace.com The food is fantastic and the prices low (... for now). I've got car insurance, and home insurance.... food insurance is the logical next step. Even if things are getting better, which I doubt, we can always eat the food!
___As the actual casino type economy system is a complete fraud, and the world banking system Privatized just like the Fed in USA and the ECB in Europe, war and oil industries based economy is Doomed sooner or later. Ref: webofdebt.com/articles - canobs.livejournal.com
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