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Happy Independence Day

2008-07-04 11:51:24.331869+00 by meuon 9 comments

Last night from our deck and hot tub, we watched both the baeball stadium fireworks and the official Chattanooga ones at Coolidge Park. Despite the warm fuzzy "life is good" feeling, there was a nagging thought:

Prepare for Revolution Yes/No: [Y]

[ related topics: Movies Chattanooga Pyrotechnics ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2008-07-04 12:42:51.024365+00 by: ziffle

explain

#Comment Re: made: 2008-07-04 16:06:20.469462+00 by: TheSHAD0W [edit history]

Unfortunately, with the masses of people who've been brainwashed into thinking they're entitled to a good life at the expense of people who actually do the work, this coming revolution is more likely to make things worse, not better.

I will not run, it is my place to stand - but I'm not optimistic, either.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-07-05 03:49:55.087376+00 by: topspin [edit history]

On this Independence Day, I don't know about a coming revolution, but I AM 100% certain we are listening to the wrong radical black man and the wrong former inmate.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-07-05 04:40:34.491992+00 by: JT

In a country full of fat and lazy people who want to do nothing more but sit in front of their televisions and await orders from their media overlords... I think actually moving far enough away from their couches to consider a revolution would be far-fetched at best. Demanding entitlements in the current state usually means nothing more than making a youtube video or posting in their blog about the evils the poster perceives in society and/or culture with no suggestions on resolution and no possible consequences for making those demands from any perceived authority figures.

America has lost it's spirit, it's culture and it's drive. The handful of Americans left with real self-formed and educated opinions that haven't been spoon-fed to them by mass media are more apt to discuss those opinions than to take action. The more refined and educated in our society who fit into this group of independent thinkers don't fall to violence and revolution out of their nature, where discussion and exchange of thoughts and information take precedence over guns and fists.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-07-05 11:42:53.174907+00 by: ebradway

I, for one, welcome our media overlords! (can you tell I've been reading /. again?)

JT: America hasn't lost it's spirit, culture, or drive. You mistake "America" with "white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant". The European-descended culture has homogenized to the point of blandness. The spirit and drive of the US comes, not from it's born citizens, but from those who long to be US citizens despite the failings of our government. The current "culture" is coming from our southern border and from Islam. And, of course, the normal American spirit is alive and well in these people struggling for economic and religious freedom.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-07-05 13:47:08.342881+00 by: JT

Eric,
I watched CNN the other day to listen to how there are new laws pertaining to immigration now that allow models and actors/actresses to more easily come into El Estados Unidos (apparently we have a shortage of entertainers). We have a "lottery" for the amount of technical workers to come into this country and make it near impossible for any laborers from south of our borders to come into our country from any central american country.

I recently heard a comedian who's name I can't remember who makes fun of his grandfather emigrating from Russia, he quips that he came across in Ellis Island and turned around to the people behind him and said "Now you foreigners get off my land..." I find that odd because my family aren't 100% native americans, they come from Spain and Germany, they were allowed to immigrate to this country, and yet now we turn our backs on the ones who want the same opportunities.

I'm not talking about the illegal people who come here with no regard for the law, I'm talking about the illegal people here who had no legal choice of how to come into this country. I remember listening to the first generation Americans while living in San Antonio talking about how we needed to build a fence across the border to stop the Mexicans from coming in. Apparently the sentiment was that once their parents found a way in and made a better life for themselves, they should have started shooting those people coming in behind them. It's strange how Americans assume that our "great melting pot" doesn't need new ingredients any more... well, at least not intelligent or hard working ingredients it seems.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-07-07 13:35:17.444262+00 by: meuon

Explaination for Ziffle: I believe it's time for a revolution. I'm hoping it comes in the form of a rapid evolution, but the more I hang with this countries "entitled self-focused masses" that are more worried about who wins the next "American Idol" than the next "American Presidency" I am afraid it can't happen that way. I really fear the more radical alternatives. The worst being collapse as the weight of our debts and our own government become an overpowering burden.

I'd like far less government, less and simpler taxation, less military in far off places, more nationalism, more constitutionalism, better (not more) education with less religious enforcement of what is proper to teach.

What we really need is more smart people, willing to risk it all for a potential future of this nation.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-07-08 08:12:33.093222+00 by: ziffle [edit history]

Look at our Financial Future

The U.S. economy is in an intensifying inflationary recession that eventually will evolve into a hyperinflationary great depression. Hyperinflation could be experienced as early as 2010, if not before, and likely no more than a decade down the road. The U.S. government and Federal Reserve already have committed the system to this course through the easy politics of a bottomless pocketbook, the servicing of big-moneyed special interests, and gross mismanagement.

The U.S. has no way of avoiding a financial Armageddon. Bankrupt sovereign states most commonly use the currency printing press as a solution to not having enough money to cover their obligations. The alternative would be for the U.S. to renege on its existing debt and obligations, a solution for modern sovereign states rarely seen outside of governments overthrown in revolution, and a solution with no happier ending than simply printing the needed money. With the creation of massive amounts of new fiat (not backed by gold) dollars will come the eventual complete collapse of the value of the U.S. dollar and related dollar-denominated paper assets.

What lies ahead will be extremely difficult and unhappy times for many. Ralph T. Foster, in his "Fiat Paper Money" (see recommended further reading at the end of this issue), closes his book’s preface with a particularly poignant quote from a 1993 interview of Friedrich Kessler, a law professor at Harvard and University of California Berkeley, who experienced the Weimar Republic hyperinflation:

"It was horrible. Horrible! Like lightning it struck. No one was prepared. You cannot imagine the rapidity with which the whole thing happened. The shelves in the grocery stores were empty. You could buy nothing with your paper money."

Zimbabwe, here we come.

And Ron Paul concurs: that Something Big Is Going on.

I have, for the past 35 years, expressed my grave concern for the future of America. The course we have taken over the past century has threatened our liberties, security and prosperity. In spite of these long-held concerns, I have days—growing more frequent all the time—when I’m convinced the time is now upon us that some Big Events are about to occur. These fast-approaching events will not go unnoticed. They will affect all of us. They will not be limited to just some areas of our country. The world economy and political system will share in the chaos about to be unleashed.

It is my view that history will judge all the federal politicians from FDR on as criminals who willingly participated in the destruction of America, except for Ron Paul and maybe Eisenhower. Future students will be shown what happened and ask themselves how could they let that happen? Why did they think they could cheat reality?

As an aside, uniforms will be making a comeback as they always do in times of economic strife. Prepare to wear a tie to work, if there is any work.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-07-08 10:55:34.620216+00 by: Larry Burton

I contend that the economy has not gotten as bad as it was during the late 70s and early 80s. Inflation is nowhere near as high and the job numbers are better. Maybe this is the beginning of the next great depression but that same claim has been made about every economic downturn that I can remember.