Economic Armageddon Is Coming

[Jcrowley]

Economic Armageddon Is Coming
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

04/24/07 "ICH" --- -- Stop being a compliant consumer. Face the ugly truth. Don’t get fooled by the stock market. Accept the need for the mistreated middle class to become the revolutionary class. The British military establishment's most prestigious think tank sees what too few over-consuming Americans are willing to anticipate. Unjustified and mounting economic inequality is planting the seeds for global economic conflict.

Here is what the new report from the UK Defense Ministry's Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre warned might happen by 2035. "The middle classes could become a revolutionary class. The growing gap between themselves and a small number of highly visible super-rich individuals might fuel disillusion with meritocracy, while the growing urban under-classes are likely to pose an increasing threat...Faced by these twin challenges, the world's middle-classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest."

Consider the wisdom of economist John Maynard Keynes: The rich are tolerable only so long as their gains appear to bear some relation to roughly what they have contributed to society. Think of it as proportional and justified economic success. This can be tolerated by poor and middle class people if they believe the economic system is fair and properly rewards those who work harder or have better capabilities. But truly obscene economic rewards angers people. When most prosperity and wealth is unfairly channeled to relatively few Upper Class people, it is only a matter of time until fuming, resentful people in the Lower Class decide enough is enough and revolt. Perhaps violently, if the political system remains controlled by the Upper Class.

A ton of data demonstrate how crazy our economic system has become where a relatively few receive astronomical gains that no rational person could see as justified. One study tracked down home ownership data for 488 CEOs in the S&P 500 Index set of companies. The typical home of the CEOs has 12 rooms, sits on 5.37 acres, and carries a $3.1 million price-tag. Companies big enough to rate S&P 500 status hiked their median CEO pay by 23.78 percent in 2006 to $14.8 million. In comparison, U.S. worker weekly wages rose just 3.5 percent in 2006.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17587.htm

[nam78_two]

1. Bookmarked

:kick: & rec

[whistle]

2. Another impeachable offense by the Bush administration for failure

...to promote the general welfare of the American people as stated in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution.

<snip>
The Constitution of the United States of America

Preamble

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

<MORE>

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html

In fact, every factor in the preamble has been violated by this administration, so the whole bunch could be impeached for failing to uphold the Constitution of the United States as each person from the president, vice president and on down has betrayed that oath, including lying!

[starmaker]

3. A preview of things to come

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,2053020,00.html
Revolution, flashmobs, and brain chips. A grim vision of the future

the entire report here 6.1 mb about 100 pages
http://tinyurl.com/278p46

[Mojorabbit]

8. That was a bleak read

What interests me is that you have to know our DOD has done similar assessments and yet our govt is still balking at helping third world countries with birth control, planned parenting. They see that the population will swell in these countries with little in the way of resources as the western worlds population drops. It does not make any sense and is a recipe for disaster in the long term.

[pinto]

4. It's unfortunate that Mr. Hirschorn molds his analysis within such hyperbole:

"What the future holds: Lower Class economic slaves fighting to survive in a medieval, ugly and bleak world that so many science fiction stories have portrayed. In that hell their best option will be to rise up and revolt against the rich and powerful Upper Class. With such a prospect, global class war on a sick planet, prevention is a priority. For us, that requires paying much more attention now to economic inequality, economic injustice, economic apartheid and the many attacks on the middle class. If not, we get Economic Armageddon along with environmental disaster."

He has a point but it gets lost in his class war rhetoric, imo.

[Jcrowley]

5. Two things

One is that some if not most of the reference comes through the lens of UK military future scenarios. Make of it what you will.

The other is that class war is really the reality not the rhetoric. Understanding this is the first step to a clear analysis of the socio-econmic arrangements of our day which supercede the political arrangements.

Of course in such a short piece that cannot be explored very deeply.

[starmaker]

6. Good analysis of UK report

It's an hour audio by Alan Watt
the transcript is not up yet
http://tinyurl.com/29uzh8

Alan's site
http://www.alanwattsentientsentinel.eu/

[pinto]

10. Yeah, military scenarios cover a broad gamut. I take them with a grain of salt.

Yet, I still disagree that "class war" is the socio-economic arrangement of our day. It's a dead end, tunnel vision of the world, imo.

Aligning the world into haves and have nots, bent on diametrically opposite world views, belies a broad middle ground that is alive and well.

I see the disparity that the construct implies, truly, but I don't buy it as the sole basis of political, social or economic policy.

Class war, in it's simplest sense, has never benefited anyone. The broadest social and economic benefits have always been the result of a tug of war between competing interests, compromise and resolution. Piecemeal, perhaps, but lasting.

Thanks for your response.

[starmaker]

12. Only class war

is the elite on the masses to manipulate and control.
Chaos is not by chance

[pinto]

13. Who are the elite? Who are the masses? Both terms seem

to say something, but both are vague, emotionally laden sound bites.

:shrug:

[CK_John]

7. I have noticed an increase of infomercials about making a mil $ hanging

around county record offices and picking up houses for nothing and getting back thousands in positive cash flow. They seem to come out of the woodwork just before a crash.

[Morgana LaFey]

9. Might fuel disillusion with MERITOCRACY?????

Wow. Talk about spin. What we've got now is hardly meritocracy. Oligarchy, plutocracy, definitely, but NOT meritocracy.

[bridgit]

11. yep, there it is...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=24513&mesg_id=24513

[Jcrowley]

14. Kick

[starmaker]

15. Kick

[ecstatic]

16. Is this a bad time to have kids? nt