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The more thought I give to this, I am not sure how we can make it through, given the time frame some are projecting.
The average American (a good portion of the average American) was living paycheck to paycheck for a while now... possible back to 2008 with more joining that "train" as time went on. Americans were relying on credit for basic essentials. Americans were being thwarted by rising rent costs. Americans were not easily purchasing property.
We were in big trouble before this even happened.
Now, this huge stimulus package is supposed to save us. Or, to "get us by" until we "open up" again. These phrases are becoming insane.
The stimulus package will hold the "average American" over for maybe a month. A family looking at rent coming and no job will not have good options. When that initial one-time payment to Americans runs out, Americans will no longer have resources for basic needs. Credit will start expiring for them, debt will increase beyond means to pay it.
These are cascading effects that I don't see "us" surviving. No one is talking about this.
I am not saying this to court fear or project fear. It is just something that is becoming a "fact" based on these factors. It may already be too late for the economy. In a month? I can't see it. 18 months? I def cannot see it. A year? A year of THIS?
I still do not believe anyone should be sounding alarms ... but this is no alarm, it is the common sense FACE of what's going on.
All kinds of ideas and theories can be projected based on what I just said, however, we all talked about Americans "slipping through the cracks" for years. People just vanishing off the radar, suffering in silence, homeless, paycheck-to-paycheck ppl, Americans falling out of the system and the American Dream is non-existent for them? It seems like THIS, so many people are going to fall into the cracks, will there even be enough left in the end?
As in, we "tolerate" a lot of things happening to a lot of ppl in America and we just move on. How many of us are going to implode from this that "America" will never be the same?
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(03-28-2020, 10:43 PM)TheNomad Wrote: As in, we "tolerate" a lot of things happening to a lot of ppl in America and we just move on. How many of us are going to implode from this that "America" will never be the same?
Has it occurred to you that that is the point of a crisis? Cultures change. They don’t change slowly and gently. But in four score and seven year fits and starts. The old values fade. New ones take their place. We are never the same.
The affinity for the unraveling memes of, racism, elitism, and tribal thinking have long been tolerated by the red Republican conservative perspective. The problems you describe have been with us a long time. The difference is that with a likely Trigger finally arriving, there is a chance at a new Progressive Era and doing something about it. Yes, there will be considerable financial stress resulting from Coronavirus. But the stress is the result of the racist and elitist policies. We have nothing in reserve when a problem arrives. It all was given to the elites, and the governments ability to respond to the problem is capped by the small government / low tax / problems don’t exist mentality of the middle of the country. The government has been more concerned with maintaining power and the economy than with people.
And if Crisis wars are rejected in this era of nukes, are you surprised that the new Trigger is also deadly and disruptive? With values so extremely stubborn that nobody changes them without a major league reason for change, is it any surprise that you need a deadly profound agent to Trigger the change?
Welcome to the Crisis. You don't expect a Crisis to be fun, do you? If in the High everyone wants to lock into the new values, act materialistic, and stomp on people who want to make waves, do you now now why?
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
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(03-29-2020, 08:25 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: (03-28-2020, 10:43 PM)TheNomad Wrote: As in, we "tolerate" a lot of things happening to a lot of ppl in America and we just move on. How many of us are going to implode from this that "America" will never be the same?
Has it occurred to you that that is the point of a crisis? Cultures change. They don’t change slowly and gently. But in four score and seven year fits and starts. The old values fade. New ones take their place. We are never the same.
The affinity for the unraveling memes of, racism, elitism, and tribal thinking have long been tolerated by the red Republican conservative perspective. The problems you describe have been with us a long time. The difference is that with a likely Trigger finally arriving, there is a chance at a new Progressive Era and doing something about it. Yes, there will be considerable financial stress resulting from Coronavirus. But the stress is the result of the racist and elitist policies. We have nothing in reserve when a problem arrives. It all was given to the elites, and the governments ability to respond to the problem is capped by the small government / low tax / problems don’t exist mentality of the middle of the country. The government has been more concerned with maintaining power and the economy than with people.
And if Crisis wars are rejected in this era of nukes, are you surprised that the new Trigger is also deadly and disruptive? With values so extremely stubborn that nobody changes them without a major league reason for change, is it any surprise that you need a deadly profound agent to Trigger the change?
Welcome to the Crisis. You don't expect a Crisis to be fun, do you? If in the High everyone wants to lock into the new values, act materialistic, and stomp on people who want to make waves, do you now now why?
Have considered our culture will change? Did you mean from working in buildings made of glass and concrete to laying around in huts harvesting the grass for food? Yes that was the purpose of the post.
Our modern world may not survive. That isn't the generational crisis you long to teach about, that's collapse and revival no one (including you) is prepared for.
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03-29-2020, 01:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-29-2020, 11:19 PM by Bob Butler 54.)
(03-29-2020, 11:06 AM)TheNomad Wrote: Have considered our culture will change? Did you mean from working in buildings made of glass and concrete to laying around in huts harvesting the grass for food? Yes that was the purpose of the post.
Our modern world may not survive. That isn't the generational crisis you long to teach about, that's collapse and revival no one (including you) is prepared for.
I could see buildings designed for the comfort of virus testers. Say, this might be an outbuilding between the main place of work and the employee parking lot. You would not be allowed to enter some places of business without being tested for the virus or having your temperature taken or something. Temperature is quick. A virus test has just been created that takes 15 minutes, and I could see it slightly improved down stream. Maybe if you fail the temperature test you go onto something more specific.. I could see increased use of soft materials where the virus cannot survive as long, or of copper and other materials that specifically kill the virus. I do not see a need to redesign existing buildings, but some sort of reasonable modification is quite possible.
Grass for food would require genetic engineering of the people, the grass or both. I doubt we are quite able to do that with current technology. A zero labor food supply might well be useful given the high population and limited jobs due to automation. It might eventually happen, but not quite yet. Next Crisis, maybe.
Yes, I see attempts at change as a result of this Crisis. I don’t see them as causing the fall of civilization, or a greater change that is more profound than say democracy, getting rid of the slave class, government control over the economy or an end to Crisis wars. That is fear mongering talk.
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
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Does no one else have commentary about this?
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