re: #348 Flyers1974

(1) Some conservatives are claiming an economic collapse is in progress. I don’t know if this is the same as an economic collapse actually being in progress.
(2) Haven’t people claimed social and moral decay throughout the history of civilization?
(3) No doubt some radicals have guns. How could they not? How many cases of Right v. Left violence have we heard of happening in this country?

I don’t know, I think we’ll be here ten, twenty years from now still arguing the same topics. Just the names will have changed.

I think the economic catastrophe is well under way. I attribute a good chunk of it to the fact that the US, like Germany after Versailles, has more or less borne the costs of the war alone. The expense is unsustainable, over the long run. (this is not a critique of the war or the decision to go to it; slavery and anarchy would be more expensive; I’m just asking why NOBODY ELSE has kicked in with some cash.)

Social and moral decay is, to an extent, a constant. There are, however, periods of reaction against it. We saw something like this in Weimar, with middle-class, traditional Germans appalled at what was happening to their popular culutre, and completely over-reacting. That such a thing happened then and could happen now is a warning.

Political violence? Also, always with us. But a lot more crazies than previously, and a lot more weapons than previously. Factor in the ability to spontaneously organize via instantaneous communications - the Web, etc. - and the possibility for organized political violence is there. Black Panthers in Philly got a pass, as a recent example, and Eric Rudolph became a folk hero in the Right; the as-yet-unnamed assassin in this case will similarly be hailed as a hero. With the ability to anonymously seek out like-minded whackjobs, the modern Lone Gunman 2.0 is far more dangerous than previous versions. He can organize, gather information, and undergo indoctrination without having to travel or even come above ground and show himself in the real world.

The Lone Wolf is no longer alone; he sees himself as part of a vast underground army; he corresponds with them regularly.