dagblog - Comments for "Grace is a slippin' and a slidin' "

It already has. People will

Beetlejuice — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:58:57 +0000

It already has. People will eventually have to migrate with the jobs as they move. You can't have a home anymore because the value-added growth as a home owner has disappeared. And personal effects and belonging have to be light and disposable because they're too expensive carry with you or to put into storage because you have no idea if you'll ever return. I know because I've lost about $25,000 in personal property since Bu$h first took office. I'm settled in Europe for now, but if my only source of income departs the area, I have to figure out a new plan of earning a living and that means moving again with even less. The global economy is slowly turning us all into wander nomads seeking employment where ever at what ever price is offered.

The Gangs of New York I think

Elusive Trope — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:24:04 +0000

In reply to For most of the U.S.'s

The Gangs of New York I think does a pretty good job of showing your point. It also shows how fragile order is sometimes. How close are we from slipping into anarchy in any given moment. The question generally is: what do the powers to be see as in their best interest? Usually those at the top prefer order over fragmenting chaos. Riots in the streets are bad for business. And as soon as real sh-- hits the fan in the streets, the average person prefers the authorities restore order. Riots are bad for lawns and cars parked on the streets.

The issue, however, goes beyond immigrants, whether the dirty Irish or the dirty Mexicans, being the target. It cuts to the definition of what it means to be an American. There are those who would say an American born citizen, and a child of American born citizens, who is Muslim is not part of the nation. We hear people talking about losing the country not to immigrants but to homosexuals and their gay agenda. And so on.

None of this new. What does seem different than in recent past (whereas if we go back further, we do get something called the Civil War - a time when the nation did split momentarily) is that there are those with their hands on the levers of power, whether business media or government, that seem to believe that it is in their interest to facilitate that disorder, to facilitate a fragmentation.

I don't believe some kind of disintegration around the corner. But we all know what happens when we play with fire.

Something's got to give

David Seaton — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 05:49:55 +0000

In reply to That is the problem! No

Something's got to give someday, no?

That is the problem! No

Beetlejuice — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:51:29 +0000

In reply to I wonder how many people

That is the problem! No matter what skills one learned in their youger years and additional skill sets as time and technology progresses, you are alwyas behind the 8-ball. Business wants the new technology skill sets, but aren't willing to take the time or expense of training people. And by the time you get those necessary skill sets, they're obsolete and no longer necessary...there's a whole new set of skills needed by industry. Much of what experience I have gained over the years has put me on a path of migrating with the technology as it moves from the US, to Europe and now off to the Middle East and 3rd world nations. And it's been simplified so just about anyone can handle the minor details of daily operations...I'm only needed when things go horribly wrong and the system is just about at the point of going up in smoke. In short, industry has been quite successful at dummying down job performance and expectations.

Oil and nautral gas...they

Beetlejuice — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:37:53 +0000

In reply to You think Russia is in good

Oil and nautral gas...they pratically have western Europe by the balls and have been squeezing hard for the past few years.

In the US, the Cold War was

Beetlejuice — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 23:36:34 +0000

In reply to My theory has always been

In the US, the Cold War was the vehicle to motivate public hatred to support a political ideology, namely anti-socialism/communism. McCarthy was the ringmaster that served the horn of plenty for those wishing to indulge. Since the demise of our adversary...USSR...the Party of McCarthy focused their hatred towards Democrats and it's all been downhill ever since. The only big change would be the merging of the military-industrial-complex with the global business sector and banking. The public has no place in government other than voting as expected. However, since the Robert's Court is giving out corporate birth certificates, soon businesses will have as much, if not more clout as the public.

I wonder how many people

cmaukonen — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:57:37 +0000

In reply to Grace is a slippin' and a slidin'

I wonder how many people realize how many people were required to build those cars, thrucks, toasters, radio, TVs, lawn mowers, stereos and what not before computers, CAD/CAM CNC and robotics made their jobs oboslite. Whether they are here or off shore, there still would not be nearly as may jobs now as then for this simple reason.

Of course it can happen to

Michael Wolraich — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:37:00 +0000

In reply to I wouldn't say that America

Of course it can happen to anybody, but that says nothing about the likelihood that it will. I'm also very concerned about Glenn Beck, not to mention a number of other problems in the U.S. But I try to avoid epic prognostications for the simple reason that I've got no clue what's going to happen next and don't believe that anyone else does either.

Short-sighted obituaries are a particularly common form of overconfident prognostication. Germany is a perfect example. Just a few years ago, Germany was the "sick man of Europe." Suddenly, in the blink of a historical eye, Germany is hot again. Who woulda thunk it? And for Japan it went the other way. Buying up properties across the globe, amassing huge surpluses, and dominating every industry on the planet...those folks were supposed to take over the world. But where are they now? Still slumped in a two-decade recession with an aging population, a dysfunctional government, a mountain of debt, and a newly powerful neighbor who is the next media-anointed heir to world domination. But far be it from me to predict the demise of Japan. Give 'em a couple of years, and they could be right back on top.

Actually the Republique of

David Seaton — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:17:04 +0000

In reply to if the American system

Actually the Republique of France's record of assimilating foreigners is probably only rivaled, but not surpassed, by America's. Camus is a Spanish name, Levi-Strauss a Jew, Aznavour is Armenian, Yves Montand is of Italian stock... But just like the USA they have their fascists, Le Pen, Sarkozy.

I maintain that America's tribal DNA is the Constitution, without that I think things could break more or less on the lines of the Russian crackpot's map.

For most of the U.S.'s

Michael Wolraich — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:16:48 +0000

In reply to I think to really talk about

For most of the U.S.'s history, the recognized citizens were generally from the same cultural background, and thus there was little strain in terms of these folks seeing there being "one nation."

I read a book a few months ago that warned of the "immigrant flood" threatening America. The author described the newcomers as immoral, lazy, ignorant, disloyal, unpatriotic, drunk, unskilled, criminal, unsanitary, and unattractive.

The book, titled The Old World in the New: The Significance of Past and Present Immigration, was published in 1913. The problematic immigrants were Greek, Polish, Italian, Irish, Jewish, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Portuguese.

Immigrants from foreign cultures are nothing new. Nor are xenophobes who complain about losing their country to them.