The global economic meltdown has already caused bank failures, bankruptcies, plant closings, and foreclosures and will, in the coming year, leave many tens of millions unemployed across the planet. But another perilous consequence of the crash of 2008 has only recently made its appearance: increased civil unrest and ethnic strife. Someday, perhaps, war may follow.
As people lose confidence in the ability of markets and governments to solve the global crisis, they are likely to erupt into violent protests or to assault others they deem responsible for their plight, including government officials, plant managers, landlords, immigrants, and ethnic minorities. (The list could, in the future, prove long and unnerving.) If the present economic disaster turns into what President Obama has referred to as a "lost decade," the result could be a global landscape filled with economically-fueled upheavals.
Read on...
Peacenik listened to Obama last night. The cadence of his speech was great. Content, not so much. Obama is stuck in the role of cheerleader. He can play that role very well. But the world needs leadership and solutions, not cheerleading. Oh, and did Peacenik forget to mention that there are no solutions? Equally absurd was Bobby Jindal's Republican response. Bobby is oblivious to the fact that 30 years of Republican/Neo-Conservative policies led us to today. And the TV pundits? Peacenik thinks they may be really crazy as they continue to attempt to frame the present crisis in the context of their limited grasp of past crises. Globalization, the global economy, global trade, the global financial system is no more. Wake up Obama. Look at Klare's list of economic hotspots. Missoula Montana is next, along with the rest of America. The DOW, perversely was up 250 points yesterday. Lots of window dressing and cheerleading coming down the pipe today. Will the world buy it? Will the DOW soar? Is that really all the world needed, some confidence and cheerleading? Peacenik thinks not.
As people lose confidence in the ability of markets and governments to solve the global crisis, they are likely to erupt into violent protests or to assault others they deem responsible for their plight, including government officials, plant managers, landlords, immigrants, and ethnic minorities. (The list could, in the future, prove long and unnerving.) If the present economic disaster turns into what President Obama has referred to as a "lost decade," the result could be a global landscape filled with economically-fueled upheavals.
Read on...
Peacenik listened to Obama last night. The cadence of his speech was great. Content, not so much. Obama is stuck in the role of cheerleader. He can play that role very well. But the world needs leadership and solutions, not cheerleading. Oh, and did Peacenik forget to mention that there are no solutions? Equally absurd was Bobby Jindal's Republican response. Bobby is oblivious to the fact that 30 years of Republican/Neo-Conservative policies led us to today. And the TV pundits? Peacenik thinks they may be really crazy as they continue to attempt to frame the present crisis in the context of their limited grasp of past crises. Globalization, the global economy, global trade, the global financial system is no more. Wake up Obama. Look at Klare's list of economic hotspots. Missoula Montana is next, along with the rest of America. The DOW, perversely was up 250 points yesterday. Lots of window dressing and cheerleading coming down the pipe today. Will the world buy it? Will the DOW soar? Is that really all the world needed, some confidence and cheerleading? Peacenik thinks not.
