Is the USA skrewed?

[MikeVFF]

Pretty self explanatory? Do you think we will ever be able to recover environmentally, politically, and economically? I honestly dont.

 

[Gipper]

Easily. If you're asking if we'll ever make it back to Clinton levels, I'm not sure. But quit painting this a doomsday scenario. Business cycles do exist, you know...unless you're one of those Marxists.

 

[Goobieman]

Easily. If you're asking if we'll ever make it back to Clinton levels...

The "Clinton levels".... of what?

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Yeah, really - of what?

We'll have surges of income like we did when Clinton was in office - we'll also have presidents who only gain poll-traction when they toot their horn on a TV show geared towards their minority constituents.

 

[ptif219]

Yeah, really - of what?

We'll have surges of income like we did when Clinton was in office - we'll also have presidents who only gain poll-traction when they toot their horn on a TV show geared towards their minority constituents.

Environmentally we have no problems. The cap and tax bill Obama wants will increase the cost of everything. It will take generations to pay down Obama's spending and debt

 

[ecofarm]

If anyone can recover, it's the US. Population density in Europe is beyond control (mostly double or triple ours) and the developing world (including China) is still busy doing damage we stopped in the mid 20th century. China is devoid of real environmental regulations and even basic human rights - it's extremely fragile. So don't worry too much about us in particular. If we can't pull out of the dive, no one else can.


Your question (the OP), given reasonable knowledge of damage and capability to recover, would more aptly be put "Is civilization skrewed?"

 

[d0gbreath]

Forget economically. We've been through the Great Depression and could easily handle that again. Environmental problems are constantly being worked on and improved. The smog in LA in 1965 could burn your eyes out. Politics have always been the same. Honestly, that's not even an important issue.

The glass is half full.

 

[UtahBill]

We are most definitely screwed in some ways....
Selfish people of today and yesterday have mortgaged the future, and it will be our grandkids who will pay the price. Our standard of living will drop for a large percentage of us, but that will likely be a good thing. We won't recover until our expectations are lowered, and we learn to pay now for what we consume now....

 

[USA_1]

Easily. If you're asking if we'll ever make it back to Clinton levels, I'm not sure. But quit painting this a doomsday scenario. Business cycles do exist, you know...unless you're one of those Marxists.

This isn't a business cycle. They destroyed the housing sector by manipulating demand. They sent manufacturing jobs overseas. We are dependant on other countries for our energy. We are buried in debt. It will be decades before we recover, if we ever do. The best times most likely are behind us.

Greed has destroyed this country.

 

[Kandahar]

Pretty self explanatory? Do you think we will ever be able to recover environmentally, politically, and economically? I honestly dont.

Environmentally - As long as we don't see any sudden changes (i.e. total environmental collapse, followed or preceded by abrupt climate change), we'll be fine. We'll eventually transition to solar power instead of fossil fuels, and we'll have geoengineering techniques at our disposal to clean up existing damage. In fact, I would argue that we've ALREADY started to recover environmentally. We reached our low point decades ago, but environmental laws have ended some of the most egregious abuses.

Politically - I'm not sure what, specifically, you're referring to here. "Recover" implies that you aren't satisfied with the way things are now. Do you mean there's a guy in the White House you don't like, or do you mean in a more general sense?

Economically - Yeah, we'll recover. Recessions never have lasted forever, and I see no reason to expect this one to be any different. Technically, our economy has been booming for a year now...it just doesn't feel like it because we endured such a collapse the previous year, and unemployment continued to rise until about six months ago.

 

[lizzie]

Forget economically. We've been through the Great Depression and could easily handle that again.

I'm not so sure. The current group of Americans is soft and fat compared to the 1920's. People back then knew how to feed themselves. The vast majority today have very little or no survival skills. People in Africa and Haiti are much more suited to taking care of their own basic needs than Americans today.

 

[USA_1]

Economically - Yeah, we'll recover. Recessions never have lasted forever, and I see no reason to expect this one to be any different. Technically, our economy has been booming for a year now...it just doesn't feel like it because we endured such a collapse the previous year, and unemployment continued to rise until about six months ago.

This recession is different. We have no more bubbles to pull us out of it and adding to our debt can go only so far.

 

[Kandahar]

This recession is different. We have no more bubbles to pull us out of it and adding to our debt can go only so far.

What do you mean no more bubbles to pull us out of it? There are always economic bubbles in the US economy. But what does that have to do with actual economic growth?

As for adding to our debt...the amount of a stimulus necessary to boost our economy would be a small fraction of our GDP. Even an extremely large stimulus would only increase our debt-to-GDP ratio by 10% or so.

 

[USA_1]

What do you mean no more bubbles to pull us out of it? There are always economic bubbles in the US economy. But what does that have to do with actual economic growth?

As for adding to our debt...the amount of a stimulus necessary to boost our economy would be a small fraction of our GDP. Even an extremely large stimulus would only increase our debt-to-GDP ratio by 10% or so.

The tech bubble pulled us out of the recession of the 80s. The housing bubble pulled us out of the recession of the late 90s caused by the bursting of the tech bubble. It was all fueled by debt. There are no more bubbles and we have not felt the worst of the last one yet.

 

[Tubub]

Once the Baby Boomers all "go away", it's all gravy.

 

[TurtleDude]

Pretty self explanatory? Do you think we will ever be able to recover environmentally, politically, and economically? I honestly dont.

The dems have spent 70+ years creating, expanding and subsidizing a permanent class of parasites and dependents. They now are breeding at much higher rates than those of us who don't start having children until we complete our educations and establish ourselves in the work place. Too many fleas and not enough dogs

 

[Orion]

Once the Baby Boomers all "go away", it's all gravy.

Do you really think the next generation is going to be any better? I mean, the owners of industry are just going to hand off their power to their kids.

 

[Kandahar]

The tech bubble pulled us out of the recession of the 80s. The housing bubble pulled us out of the recession of the late 90s caused by the bursting of the tech bubble. It was all fueled by debt. There are no more bubbles and we have not felt the worst of the last one yet.

You seem to be under the impression that busts are the natural state of affairs, and booms are just illusions. This is not correct. They are both just deviations from the average, which is a modest increase in economic growth over time.

 

[Tubub]

The next generations already exist bud.

As Thomas Friedman said in one form or another: The Baby Boomers, like locusts, ate through the abundance provided by The Greatest Generation. Now, we must form a "regeneration" to propel our economy and nation.

Frank Schaeffer: The Failed President And The New "Greatest Generation"

The New Greatest Generation

The Greatest Generation: Today's Veterans Measure Up to Those From WWII and Vietnam - ABC News

Another Greatest Generation Is On The Way - Forbes.com

Another Greatest Generation Is On The Way - Forbes.com

 

[lizzie]

Once the Baby Boomers all "go away", it's all gravy.

Hah! Now THAT's a good one.:mrgreen:
Oh, how I hope I can reincarnate as a fly on the wall and watch!

 

[Tubub]

Laugh it off. I'm happy you have the luxury. Wait, no I'm not! But all I can do at this point is foot your bill, huh? You're like a bunch of little FAT kids that came and ordered wayy too much for yourselves, and now the adults are gonna have to step in and wash the dishes all night to pay it off. I guess that's funny for you...

 

[lizzie]

You're going to be footing alot of bills, but they won't be mine. I'm footing my own plus a couple of extras. And no, it's not funny to me that the bills are going to be unpayable. It's funny that so many young people support our government spending us into oblivion and have no idea what it's going to do to the country. People like myself who are fiscally responsible are outraged that any business is too big to fail, and believe that what's going on in DC is insanity.

 

[Tubub]

40 years ago your generation was protesting the Vietnam war and has simply traded the "I'll burn my draft card" signs for the "I won't pay my taxes" ones. Don't get wrong, there were many that served honorably in Vietnam, but the prime heroes to come out of that war(Colin Powell, Join McCain, David Hackworth) were not Baby Boomers, and they were lost among a sea of narcissistic cowards anyway. It's very telling that the two presidents of that generation were draft dodgers. Sorry, but this nation needs to move on.

 

[d0gbreath]

I'm not so sure. The current group of Americans is soft and fat compared to the 1920's. People back then knew how to feed themselves. The vast majority today have very little or no survival skills. People in Africa and Haiti are much more suited to taking care of their own basic needs than Americans today.

We would all be thinner and more active.

 

[lizzie]

Sorry, but this nation needs to move on.

Then get to moving. It's going to anyway.