So, are we at the end of time as we know it?

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Big O Dave

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With all of the headlines about how horrible the economy is getting (in addition to personal experience around here, where sales are easing up) and the latest headline in the Drudge Report about how we are heading for the worst recession since the 1930's...

...and the price of fuel going through the roof...

...and with all of those "Mega Disaster" shows on TV...

...and with the Yellowstone magma chamber making its way to the surface at breakneck speeds since 2004, threatening a volcanic eruption/explosion of the likes not witnessed by modern man before...

...and with new, incurable diseases popping up with regularity...

...and with the South about to run out of water...

...and with Harley sales beginning to decline...

...are we destined for a horrific, doom-and-gloom future?

Or is all of this overblown, and we'll be okay...

What do you think?
 
We're doomed.

Why? The world is taking one lazy, I mean lazy aproach to all of the problems. Governments care about nothing but oil, and only pay little attention to other alternatives. This world will go downhill unless the government does something to stop it. There is little we can do, no matter how many energy efficient bulbs we put in our lamps.
 
IMO, things have to flop. People all feel entitled tohigh end stuff and things they cant afford. How does it all get taken care of???

The reality is, though, that en masse, companies will not all go out of business. Everything will always come in line with the population's ability to do something, as that is the only way that the 'haves' can make money. That can never change, because someone, somewhere is always driven to be better than the next guy.

As a result, we can have inflation, deflation, bull market, bearmarket, recession, depression, etc., etc. In the end all, someone is making money, and that person isdoing well. THe population as a whole will not, but it is still in some groups' best interest to keep things going. Thus, IMO, things can never completely implode.

JMH
 
In the big picture, time and /or it's end is not really dependent or concerned on anything we do.
The universe couldn't care less about our economy, drought, society, whatever.
 
Originally Posted By: MarkC
In the big picture, time and /or it's end is not really dependent or concerned on anything we do.
The universe couldn't care less about our economy, drought, society, whatever.


The operative words here are "as WE know it."
smile.gif
 
But none of this matters as everyone still has lots of supplies left over from Y2K, right ? Maybe just need to refresh the stock of batteries, check cal on the geiger counters, and of course restock ammo as everyone goes thru lots of, right ? Maybe some fresh Tobasco sauce too. Don't tell anyone that you're restocking though, as you're probably still trying to live down the fact that you sold everything and moved to a bunker in the mountains in the desert :^)
 
When the ARM mortgage "crisis" first hit the TV news I watched a segment on a younger couple with kids that had bought a huge McMansion they couldn't really afford and were now in deep doo doo as rates rose. I know a few yuppie suckers near where I live that could easily end up in the same situation. Perhaps they can live in one of their Lexus SUV's (Lexii?) or their boat.

There are way too many people who are living beyond their means, at all levels of income, and sooner or later they will hit their limit. Also, they are generally not saving a dime for their kids education or their own retirement or health care. I guess they expect other people to pay for it all and vote accordingly, if they vote at all.

Overall, things will work out okay but many of those who are making poor decisions are in for a bumpy ride. On a human level you don't want to see lives in distress, but on a macro level, people need to take the consequences of their decisions and learn from them.

You neglected to explicitly mention a certain global phenomenon associated with Nobel winner Al Gore. If we are all under 20 feet of water, the mortgage rate won't matter.
 
Maybe all the histeria will cancel each other out.

Like if Bird Flu kept the Chinese home, and they used less oil, and made fewer poisonous products for export.

Or inflation will eventually raise wages enough for people to qualify to buy what is now distressed property, and get the banks out of trouble (this is not far fetched.)
 
Well, isn't this interesting...

"I" think people who have racked up tons of consumer debt & monster ARM mortgages are/will be in over their heads. Then what? Bankruptcies?? Who will "Pay" for them? The good guy who's saved, not taken on debt and have lived within their means (ME)??

I just got laid off. I will get an ok severance, but I will be ok anyway. Why? None of the above. I'm frugal. Saw this puppy coming so I have saved.

I highly recommend to those of you that seem to not be able to control their spending to start to do so, now. "I" think you're going to need it.

There's more, but don't want to type all of it in.

Good luck, BITOG'ers.
 
My .02$ is that we've screwed the pooch, and the chickens are coming home to roost. How's that for a messed-up analogy to reflect the messed-up world around us? I'm glad I have part-time jobs that won't go away any time soon while being a full-time student. At least houses will still be cheap in a few years when I'm looking to buy. And my 8 year old car will still be getting 30+ MPG and be in tip-top shape thanks to the advice gleaned on this forum. One less thing to buy is a new car that I don't like.
 
Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
I'm immortal (on some subatomic level) ..so I can just shrug this off as hysteria over nothing.

I will remain - I'm still alive


Thanks Gary I really enjoyed the video!

Sheesh the doom and gloom here from some of you - sounds like you really should get checked for mild depression or SAD. First of all - economies cycle as JMH says. Criminy - as things go - we've been booming since 1980's. Inflation has been in check, unemployment low - sure SOME idiots are way in over their heads, and they should pay. AND yes the market has been down...a LITTLE (with a few nasty dips)....but mostly UP!!!

There is always a rally in something! I just changed my 401K to 20%. I'm gonna start buying more as the chickens fly the coop. My Amsoil business is doing great. I have no debt outside of a house payment but it's fairly modest and our house is still worth way more than we paid for. I couldn't rent an apartment for what my house payment is - not all debt is evil!

I do need to get the wife working with her great ideas.

If any of you listened to Bob Brinker on Sunday - "rich" people think fundamentally differently than "poor" people, and that does not mean what most of you will think it means.

So get up, get undepressed and fliggen' start saving and risking and working and thinking! If you are sick of chi-com khrap poisoning our youth, start making safe toys. Start and electronics factory, buck the trend!!!
 
Only some of the south is running out of water. Ask New Orleans.

Will Al Gore's internet work under 20 feet of water?

We do in fact have problems, when our best idea is to sell homes on credit to people who can't afford them. Same with automobiles.

There's a reason McDonald's doesn't pay $20 bucks an hour.

"A chicken in every pot" became a Lexus in every driveway. You can't eat the Lexus. Not even in post WWIII Australia.
 
In the end it either won't matter, or it will get fixed. Things might get bad in the meantime, just hang tight guys.
 
The original post is tough to answer without integrating politics and religion.
In the big picture, we are nearing the end of this age.
 
you guys don't know how good we have it right now. at least we are free to chose a lot of things in life.

when they start invading you're dreams to advertise light speed briefs, and force a government credit card upon everyone, along with food rationing and government mandated tatoo's on the forehead, then you can start complaining and we can revolt again.
 
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