It’s Friday, and it’s clear that the bursting of the housing bubble has brought wider problems than most people ever thought possible. Frighteningly, these problems are being used as an excuse for the government to contemplate mobilizing troops against U.S. citizens on American soil: [Thanks L!]
A new report by the U.S. Army War College talks about the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used should the economic crisis lead to civil unrest, such as protests against businesses and government or runs on beleaguered banks.
“Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security,” said the War College report.
The study says economic collapse, terrorism and loss of legal order are among possible domestic shocks that might require military action within the U.S.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned Wednesday of economy-related riots and unrest in various global markets if the financial crisis is not addressed and lower-income households are hurt by credit constraints and rising unemployment.
U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., both said U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson brought up a worst-case scenario as he pushed for the Wall Street bailout in September. Paulson, former Goldman Sachs CEO, said that might even require a declaration of martial law, the two noted.
I miss the good old days when most Doomers just worried about how long it would take for home prices to fall to an affordable range to buy. Now we have to worry about threats to our safety and liberty.
So what are folks worried about now? What else should we be looking at? This is an open thread, so let us know what is on your mind.
Didn’t somebody post here back in April-ish about a closed session that congress had (?), where supposedly civil unrest was discussed as a “possibility” in 2009?
I usually don’t believe in secret conspiracy stuff, but that poster at least had it right when he spoke of the predicted economic catastrophe in September of 2008. Hmm…
MikeC -
Yeah, it came in April 4. Here’s a link to Doomer hlowe’s famous paranoid comment about the March 13, 2008 closed House session.
Admin -
I’m tearing my hair (talk about a limited resource!) at discussions like this that somehow dance around the possibility that shrinking the wars, occupations and Military Industrial Complex might be profitably put on the table.
Not having an MBA or PHD after my name I can’t have a ‘Carefully Considered Opinion’ so I’ll keep most of my ‘Wild Hunches’ about what the future holds to myself. I will share this one; these guys won’t find work on one of Obama’s construction crews.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/business/story/423577.html
Mike, John, Admin-
It seems like we used to get these kinds of reports from, shall we say, less mainstream sources. More and more however, these reports seem to be substantiated.
Certainly we would not want our society to deteriorate into chaos, but the response that seems to be planned seems heavy handed and inappropriate.
Clearly our economy continues to deteriorate with no bottom in sight, now is the time to discuss what the implications are and how it will be dealt with. If Americans don’t step forward now, they will find that like these bailouts, more “solutions” will be forced upon them.
Igor’s “depressed”, and I don’t blame him.
Hutch-
It seems to me that Obama’s jobs are nothing to write home about. None of them will replace the well paying jobs that folks have become accustomed to. As near as I can tell, these jobs will be for folks to change light bulbs, assemble wind mills, and hold signs on road crews. Then all these workers will be paid in dollars that are worth less.
The traders might end up begging for one of these jobs, but I don’t like picturing the world we live in at that point.
I just read Pres.Bush is giving 17.5 bil. to the auto industry. i believe this makes it offical our country is being run by the mob. A public works program with absolutely no money to pay for it. Print more funny money. Protect us from runs on the banking industry? These people are criminals. This sounds so much like a coup. Igor says pathetic
a good friend and myself would joke, about a year ago, about building a shelter in my backyard and how it would look like “Mad Max” (the movie) here eventually. I’m not finding those conversations so funny anymore. and why hasn’t someone in his administration reminded the president about all of those HUGE tax cuts, credits, and breaks that he gave over the past 8 years? aren’t they aware that they already gave away the money that could have paid for all of his recent spending? had i known that collecting less while spending more could somehow work…..i may have gone in an entirley different political and business direction?