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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Not For the Weak of Heart

Not For the Weak of Heart

by John Cole|  September 23, 20088:15 am| 20 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Election 2008

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Billmon and then Kunstler.

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20Comments

  1. 1.

    cleek

    September 23, 2008 at 8:25 am

    Billmon prefers to dwell on the bleakest of possible outcomes – run down the list of eventualities, find the worst, then project it into an even worse future.

    he’s a smart guy, but i’m not sure what i get out of reading him – a glimpse of devastation yet to come ?

    The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached. When it came near him, Scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery. It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. … It thrilled him [Scrooge] with a vague uncertain horror, to know that behind the dusky shroud there were ghostly eyes intently fixed upon him, while he, though he stretched his own to the utmost, could see nothing but a spectral hand and one great heap of black.

  2. 2.

    SGEW

    September 23, 2008 at 8:34 am

    Mr. Kunstler ends with some choice words:

    . . . we chucked it all to become a society of overfed clowns, with God Almighty replaced by Ronald McDonald. That pageant of happy idiocy is now ending.

    Makes you almost optimistic.

  3. 3.

    Dreggas

    September 23, 2008 at 8:42 am

    Better start canning food. That’s all I can say.

  4. 4.

    zzyzx

    September 23, 2008 at 8:42 am

    This is why I don’t read pundits on the Internet. It’s a series of worst case scenarios spun out so they can feel superior to others. They’re fun to write but that doesn’t mean that they’re likely to happen.

  5. 5.

    Va Highlander

    September 23, 2008 at 8:55 am

    I got off of the Kunstler train to Armageddon a long time ago. He’s been forecasting doom for years, always claiming that collapse and chaos are just around an ever-receding corner. Even a stopped clock has the correct time twice a day and I feel just because he happens to be right at the moment doesn’t mean his masturbatory fantasies have been anything more than the wishful thinking of an overgrown and deeply alienated adolescent.

    From what I’ve seen of the man, I suspect he’s been beside himself with glee ever since the market’s began to dive last week. If he were really so fucking clever and cared about anything more than drawing attention to himself, Kunstler would get off that dopey bike of his and do something constructive. He won’t. An idealist like Kunstler never sullies himself with such practical concerns.

  6. 6.

    Napoleon

    September 23, 2008 at 8:55 am

    I have a feeling that when its all done stagflation in the 70’s will look like the golden age of the US economically next to what is to come.

  7. 7.

    Dreggas

    September 23, 2008 at 8:55 am

    keep this in mind, the series of bail outs and ad hoc things we’ve done so far is nothing mor than putting a band aid on an arterial wound. The 700 billion dollar boondoggle they’re talking about is nothing more than a larger band aid on the wound. In other words it’s still bleeding and no tourniquet has been applied.

  8. 8.

    Snail

    September 23, 2008 at 8:58 am

    As long as we’re pondering our collective future bleakness, Sullivan recently linked to this story about peak oil prophet Matt Simmons.

    Of course, a full-on economic collapse would forestall the effects of peak oil, but if we really are at peak, it will make it extremely difficult to mount any kind of economic recovery.

  9. 9.

    ChristieS

    September 23, 2008 at 9:03 am

    Better start canning food. That’s all I can say.

    Here in the rural south, we’re already doing this. We do it every year, but this year there’s something a bit different.

    We used to have pretty much only one section of a single aisle devoted to canning supplies during harvest season. However, yesterday when I went grocery shopping, there was an entire aisle devoted to supplies, and they were going like hotcakes. The fresh vegetable aisles were also fairly denuded of the types of food that are easily canned..(beans, corn, tomatoes, squash, fresh fruits like apples, etc.)

    The Saturday farmers market also had a run on produce. It typically runs from 8am until noon. They closed at 10am because they were out of supplies.

    Our foodbank ran out of food last week.

    It’s getting fucking ugly here on the homefront.

  10. 10.

    montysano

    September 23, 2008 at 9:14 am

    If he were really so fucking clever and cared about anything more than drawing attention to himself, Kunstler would get off that dopey bike of his and do something constructive. He won’t. An idealist like Kunstler never sullies himself with such practical concerns.

    First of all, if you really read Kunstler, you’d know that his blog, and especially his books, often include solutions, and suggestions for practical action.

    Secondly, as one who commutes his 50-something ass 30+ miles per week on a “dopey bike”, feel free to piss off. The simple bicycle could be a useful tool on multiple levels: conservation, obesity, etc. That fact that not even BO (as far as I know) has touted this is a huge disappointment.

  11. 11.

    Doug H. (Fausto no more)

    September 23, 2008 at 9:36 am

    Billmon’s always a good read, even if there are times you can easily tell when he’s off the anti-depressants. His latest run on GOS has been solid stuff.

    Kunstler, on the other hand, has been stuck on ‘SUBURBS ARE TEH EVIL!!!!1!1!!!’ since Levittsville. I take him with a whole can of Morton’s.

  12. 12.

    SGEW

    September 23, 2008 at 9:40 am

    Our foodbank ran out of food last week.

    It’s getting fucking ugly here on the homefront.

    We city dwellers are more or less screwed, it seems. Can I come and live with one of the semi-self-sufficient rural commenters? I’m a hard worker, I don’t eat much, and we can snark our way through the Apocalypse . . . . No?

    Oh well. I’ve always wanted to see a food riot. It’ll be something to tell the grand kids.

  13. 13.

    Va Highlander

    September 23, 2008 at 10:43 am

    First of all, if you really read Kunstler, you’d know that his blog, and especially his books, often include solutions, and suggestions for practical action.

    You may be right, but after reading Kunstler’s blog religiously for many months, I did not find his “solutions” practical at all. Most everything seemed to begin with, “Once it all goes to Hell, then they’ll listen to me. They won’t be laughing anymore. Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha!”

    This is not a practical solution, at least not one that avoids a shitload of human suffering. Tackling rampant American consumerism and waste is a behavioral problem. Thundering on and on about what fools these mortals be is an exercise in self-aggrandizement, not effecting meaningful change. I consider myself sympathetic and open to Kunstler’s arguments generally, but after a while even I couldn’t take his smug self-satisfaction and disaster-mongering ‘tude.

    Secondly, as one who commutes his 50-something ass 30+ miles per week on a “dopey bike”, feel free to piss off. The simple bicycle could be a useful tool on multiple levels: conservation, obesity, etc. That fact that not even BO (as far as I know) has touted this is a huge disappointment.

    On a personal level, good for you and I mean that sincerely. Your disappointment in Obama, however, for not promoting your lifestyle choices proves little more than your low threshold for disappointment. Worse, going around with this chip on your shoulder is just the sort of eco-elitist rot that has kept the Greens and other ecologically sane voices from being heard in this country’s political discourse. It’s counterproductive to your own doubtless sincere and laudable intent.

    Remember when Jimmy Carter turned down the thermostat, donned a cardigan sweater and bade all patriotic Americans do likewise? An excellent suggestion, in retrospect, but they laughed him out of the Oval Office for it. Good ideas, however vital and well-intentioned, only sell themselves to an informed and sympathetic public. You have to dangle a carrot in front of these stubborn jackasses. Frightening them with end-of-the-world scenarios and beating them with moralist sticks is only half the solution.

  14. 14.

    Mino

    September 23, 2008 at 10:48 am

    Jesus Christ on a crutch. They’re gonna buy this trash at near-mature value, not fire sale. That’s gonna work, I’m sure. Not.

    If they do this, without any tax to try to pay for it, our currency will be justly punished and the net effect will be—Let’s do it again.

  15. 15.

    John PM

    September 23, 2008 at 12:06 pm

    Oh well. I’ve always wanted to see a food riot. It’ll be something to tell the grand kids.

    Assuming you live. If the riots don’t get you, the cannibalism probably will.

  16. 16.

    D-Chance.

    September 23, 2008 at 2:17 pm

    Shorter (teary-eyed) Kunstler: Aaaaahhhh met maaaaahhhh Lincoln! Saaaaavior of the world!

    What a load of shit.

  17. 17.

    D-Chance.

    September 23, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    SGEW Says:

    We city dwellers are more or less screwed, it seems. Can I come and live with one of the semi-self-sufficient rural commenters? I’m a hard worker, I don’t eat much, and we can snark our way through the Apocalypse . . . . No?

    Eh, no. I got mine, screw the rest of ya. /grins

    Going back to Kunstler, “we are a poorer nation”? No. We have the same number or houses, the same amount of oil is in the ground, the same crops are still there in the fields… we are not a poorer nation. However, we ARE a nation that will have to learn to re-value and re-prioritize its assets and wants/needs as a society. Those of us who did not get caught up in Bubblemania with the dot.coms and the McMansions and the need for new cars, new video systems, new stainless steel appliances, new EVERYTHING because “we don’t have to pay for it… just put it on plastic!” are doing just fine, thank you very much. Amazing how a little personal responsibility and fiscal conservatism can carry one through a “crisis”.

  18. 18.

    jon

    September 23, 2008 at 6:51 pm

    Kunstler, “we are a poorer nation”? No. We have the same number or houses, the same amount of oil is in the ground, the same crops are still there in the fields… we are not a poorer nation. However, we ARE a nation that will have to learn to re-value and re-prioritize its assets and wants/needs as a society. –D-Chance

    Is the value of those things higher or lower? If the answer is “lower”, then our ass is poorer. Will we feel poorer? Hell yes. Will a change in how we look at things make us feel better? I doubt many will call poor people whiners, though we’ll certainly be hearing more whines from the newly poor and unskilled classes who have more debt than the old poor. You’re right about responsible money management being important, but I think you show a lack of objectivity in regard to whether or not we’re a poorer nation.

  19. 19.

    TenguPhule

    September 23, 2008 at 10:41 pm

    We have the same number or houses, the same amount of oil is in the ground, the same crops are still there in the fields… we are not a poorer nation.

    The houses are worth a lot less then you think, the oil is being given away for hookers and blow and the crops are costing an arm and a leg to get to your table, FUCK YEAH we are a poorer nation then before.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks

  1. Prescience is overrated. | Iowa Liberal says:
    September 23, 2008 at 12:16 pm

    […] John Cole reads Kunstler like us, and if you’ve been reading us long, you’ve been reading him too. […]

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