Vox Day was at the forefront of the blogosphere and most of the mainstream Rockefeller Economists several years ago when he predicted the recession of 2007 would turn into the Great Depression 2.0. He even wrote a book entitled The Return of the Great Depression that came out in 2009, long before most other economists even began to have an inkling that the housing bust would lead to the return of the big D. Here we are, 2 years later, and the premiere Rockefeller Economist cheerleader and partisan hack, Paul Krugman, is finally getting around to admitting what Vox has been forecasting for years now.
I was in agreement with Vox back when he first began predicting this. I've been calling it "Great Depression 2.0" to my family, friends and acquaintances for a couple of years now. Many of them laughed when I first began using the phrase. Many no longer laugh when they hear me use it...and a few have begun using it themselves.
Yet many folks still remain oblivious. They don't understand what the huge fuss is. Things SEEM to be not too bad.
It got me thinking about the differences between Great Depression 1.0 and the current iteration:
- Unlike the 1.0 era, we now have a near majority of Americans who are Government employees. In Hawaii, the State Government is THE largest employer. While Government employees are supposedly paid their salaries and collectively bargained benefits with tax revenues raised from the private sector, we are now in a state for which Governments are simply borrowing astronomical sums of debt-based fiat currency to keep the illusion of running an already broken and unsustainable system going.
- During 1.0, the American society was a far different structure than it is today. The nuclear family was still the foundation of society. Men were by and large family men and dedicated providers. Women were housewives and mothers, and they supported their men as they struggled to find work to provide for their families. The lack of work led to mass migrations of families, with Heads of households looking for work to provide for their households. When there was no work to be found, they depended on charities (most of which were religious-driven) soup kitchens. Now, everyone is living off of extended unemployment benefits and the EBT food stamp system. No one need look for work, just wait for the government check in the mail.
- In our current era, we have an almost infinite supply of technologically driven distractions to keep the masses mollified. Some of the greatest entertainment spectacles available through mass media broadcasting offers mass distraction to every corner of the globe. During the decline of the Roman empire, citizens had to travel to the nearest arena to see the latest spectacle. Now, you just have to turn on a tv or computer or your "smart" phone.
- While Government debt financing has helped to keep the illusion of our unsustainable system going, the same holds true on a personal level. Many folks are living off of their credit cards and equity credit on their houses to keep up the urban and suburban lifestyle appearances of the 21st century.
Despite the many differences between then and now, I still think the end results are still going to be horrific and ghastly.
1.0 purportedly ended with World War 2. Millions of lives were ended, many cities, homes and societies were utterly devastated in the last great war.
We are now in approximately the 5th year of Depression 2.0. If History truly does repeat itself, we are only about halfway through this, and things are going to get much, much worse. The hard times are going to get a lot harder in the near future. When the welfare state ultimately collapses, mass starvation and civil unrest is assured.
I believe that there is no politician or political party that we can elect that is going to make a damn bit of difference. The system is what it is, and this economic disaster is the unavoidable results, regardless of who is in power - CFR Donkeys or CFR Elephants will continue to run the script that got us to this point, and is leading us to a predetermined outcome.
Something more spectacularly disastrous than WW2 is going to be the catalyst the ends the our Great Depression 2.0. Some sort of disaster which leads to permanent changes for society and the way we all live our lives - a New Order of the Ages.
