NEO-CANNIBALISM: Just exactly when will the poor start eating the rich?

[Zhade]

Times are hard.

No, that's not right - times are fucked. The price of food, water, energy - LIFE - is freewheeling out of our ability to keep up.

Congress doesn't get it, or doesn't want to as they are too cozy fat and rich off illegal wars, destroying the economy for the benefit of corporations and killing liberty.

It's a morbid question, but not entirely tongue-in-cheek - when will riots start? What will be the tipping point? Will the poor start throwing themselves in human waves at the defenses of the rich, eventually to overpower and consume them (metaphorically or *shudder* literally)?

In short, how much more of this fucking BULLSHIT will humanity take?

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. We are near that tipping point

I believe.. when expectations drop the way the way they are, it is the perfect recipee for revolution... as lomg as you still have a somehwat powerful intellectual class. That is why they are attacking universities as well

[aquart]

2. We are NOT near. But in ten-twenty years...

I just can't wait till some Blackwater asshole tells a thirsty community that they don't own their water.

[cutlassmama]

3. No, not 20 years. It's right around the corner. Rents have gone

through the roof in my town. I'm talking $600-700 increases. We had to stop drinking milk because we can't afford it any longer. The electricity rates keep going up. It gets worse by the day. Look at the money situation in the U.S. The Euro has surpassed the USD. The Health Care crisis, and the mortgage loan fiasco. I can see things happening pretty quickly.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. We still drink milk but luxuries like eating out

or even going out for coffee are now out

Hell I treated myself... I had some coffee today... I used to have a latte. The coffee was a real treat

And these days I am going down to buy groceries at the swap meet, cheaper.. and telling

[Zhade]

10. I remember when bananas were 25 cents a pound - now they're 25 cents APIECE.

When the people get hungry, the riots will begin. I don't think it's avoidable.

[Truthiness Inspector]

14. You can afford milk? I am eating you next.,

You have no right to buy milk, and I have every right to take that milk from you.

You know, times are rough, pardon me.

[nadinbrzezinski]

17. Yes I do... imagine that

and was that an attempt at humor?

[Truthiness Inspector]

20. What was the humor?

Do you really think you can take milk from me? Or what?

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. We have not reached that point yet

but aparently you want to take it... if you ask nicely I'd even give it to you..

But that was your poor attempt at humor

This is a serious point

Inflation (the real numbers, the ones not counted since the Carter Admin courtesy of the GAO, are going thorugh the roof. From unoficial surveys we may be reaching anywhere from ten to fifteen percent inflation in things like food and fuel

We also have a concered effort to deflate the currency, which effectively means inflation

Soon, on a serious note people will have to choose between rent and food. Some already do

And in real dollars people have lost about 1000 dollars per year in income and salaries are stagnant

If you read, which we know you don't, you're realize this is a recipee for economic disaster

[BellaB]

44. Sorry, but I gotta call

BS on this one. You cant afford milk, crying about the increase in your electric bill yet you can still afford the LUXURY of internet access!?!?!

Seems to me, if I am at the point where I cannot afford milk I would be looking where to cut expenses. Luxury items such as internet access, cable, etc... would be the FIRST to go. Yes I agree, prices HAVE gone up on some items, but, not nearly like you say they have.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. It will be too late then

It has to happen with this generation, or the poor will be trained to accept their faith, period

And there are many ways to do it... thank you (religious figure here)

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. If you think 10 years is 'not near' you are not old enough.

Ten years is a heartbeat.

[Zhade]

9. Fallujah II.

And they'll FUCKING DESERVE IT, the mercenary swine.

I don't like saying that, but there it is. That's how messed up the world's getting.

[CrispyQ]

16. Ahhh, you must be young if 10-20 years does not sound "near."

My husband & I comment that we are thankful to have lived most of our lives in the best time of the USA. My heart is heavy at the burden hoisted onto future generations.

New Mexico governor wants Michigan's water: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2022557

[lligrd]

6. I Don't Know

Americans have taken far more than I ever thought they would already. And to be honest, most of them don't seem to care that much. I am sorely disappointed in them.

[CrispyQ]

18. My sister will not watch "Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price"

because she "will feel guilty when I shop there."

:banghead:

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. If you have no choice, you have no choice

:-)

[CrispyQ]

27. Trust me, she is not at the point where economics dictates her every decision.

She could exercise some self-restraint if she chose to. I know that sounds incredibly judgmental of me, but you know what? I don't give a shit. I'm tired of the "I want the world to be a better place but I don't want to be inconvenienced to make it so" whiny attitude. Yes, there are those out there living in true poverty & I am deeply, deeply sorry & have no judgment against them. But my sis isn't one of them.

[lligrd]

34. I Know A Bunch At Work That Know Better

but shop there too. (sigh)

[Jim Sagle]

8. More like the other way around.

I don't know if you're old enough to remember the old 60s radical slogan, "By any means necessary."

Our rulers have adopted it as THEIR slogan. They're the militants now.

[Zhade]

12. Chickenshit bullshit.

:)

Seriously though - we outnumber them. Even with the hardware.

I often feel tremendous guilt for bringing my son into being. I can't protect him from this future.

[Jim Sagle]

38. Well, if you'e going to steal raw material, steal from the best.

:beer:

[Mind_your_head]

11. Well, when I read a thread today about NM (Arizona?) wanting to import water

from the Great Lakes b/c the (sic) 'Northwest' :eyes: has PLENTY of water......

....and some of the responses ~ especially the ones who are 'comfortably' living in the desert right now.....my GAWD! Everything belongs to them and their 'comfort'....no matter how unsustainable/wasteful/unTHINKING it is!

I don't want those folks to lose their homes or their retirements, but c'mon! What were they "thinking"? Everyone else moved there and all those people 'couldn't be WRONG!!!' ~ or could they?

[Zhade]

13. Americans are the most selfish people on the planet.

Excepting, of course, those that accept that fact - we're slightly less selfish. But only slightly.

[Mind_your_head]

15. Yep - and I agree (If I understand you correctly) that just LIVING

in such a selfish society exacts its toll on us ALL....willing or not. We're ALL INFLUENCED by the selfishness of this society.

I, personally must agree.....and I don't like myself very much for caving into some of its depravity/influence.

M_Y_H

[CrispyQ]

24. What you do to one, you do to all.

Mind boggling simple. Yet so hard to adhere to.

:hug:

[CrispyQ]

19. If Americans had the level of electrical & water/sewage service of Baghdad,

the whining would wipe out the entire sound of the universe.

[Zhade]

21. Indeed.

Just... how bad is it going to get?

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. Baghdad, what about any of the slums in Tijuana

I don't have to go THAT far...

A single water spout for forty houses, for example, and the water might be or might not be clean

[CrispyQ]

28. You're right, we don't have to go far at all.

Baghdad, Tijuana, Katrina.

They are all tragic commentaries about human communities & how we have abandoned community for the individual. We must find balance.

[undergroundpanther]

26. private property needs to end

with it the classism of haves and have nots,This divisive bullshit,patriarchy,and this culture of hyper extraction,the culture of abuse or be abused, competition,conformity,exploitation,profit and empire.

Societies do not have to be like this,you know.
Most people do not have to be beholden to 'masters', or rulers.
They just think they do.

The people who think they are above the rest of us they are who need masters and to be ruled for they are bullies, psychopaths authoritarians and narcissists.

Capitalism is a greedy system. It seeks profit everywhere and turns everything into private property. In doing so, it inevitably destroys all those things we hold in common - the “commons”. The world is dominated by capital. Wage labourers do the work and turn the profits for capital because they have no other way of making a living. And that's because in the past we were disinherited from our “commons”, which were enclosed by the rising capitalist class.
http://www.marxist.com/intellectual-property-rights221105-4.htm

The conquest of the matriarchal brotherhood over jungle law was so total that, as Briffault writes, “the nature and extent of that solidarity are almost inconceivable and unintelligible” to us in modern society:

“A savage ... will say ... that his son or his brother is ‘himself.’ ... He does not think in terms of his ego and its interests, but in terms of group-feelings and group-interests...

“The feeling with which the savage regards his clan goes almost to the length of obliterating his sense of individuality. He experiences an injury suffered by any other member as if he were himself the victim of that injury, and any benefit accruing to the clan is felt as a piece of personal good luck, even though he himself derives no advantage from it...” (Op. cit.)

Briffault cites innumerable examples of this social solidarity among primitive tribes in every part of the world, as reported by missionaries, traders and travelers:

“Every man is interested in his neighbor’s property and cares for it because it is part of the wealth of the family collectively... Every one of the clan feels interest in that which is used by his neighbor, because he has a share in it... His personal feelings are sunk for the common good.”

“What is extremely surprising ... is to see them treat one another with a gentleness and consideration which one does not find among common people in the most civilized nations... This, doubtless, arises in part from the fact that the words ‘mine’ and ‘thine’... are unknown to these savages.”

“I have seen them divide game, venison, bear’s meat, fish, etc., among themselves, when they sometimes had many shares to make; and cannot recollect a single instance of their falling into a dispute or finding fault with the distribution as being unequal... They would rather lie down themselves on an empty stomach than have it laid to their charge that they neglected to satisfy the needy; only dogs and beasts, they say, fight amongst themselves.” (Quoted by Briffault, op. cit. My emphasis.)

http://www.marxists.org/archive/reed-evelyn/1954/matriarchal-brotherhood.htm

[Stargazer99]

29. I personally think a French Reveloution is long overdue

those that have personally and corporately are bleeding the common man to death. I hope more people start talking to each other because they will realize there are many in this nation without hope. I was thinking yesterday "the well to do are destroying the nation's ideals with self-ishness and greed. I was reading an article about dentists in the local news. Their average yearly income, AVERAGE..is $300,000. Poor babies can't get together to help the 20% of US citizens who mouths are going to hell. Some people have TOO much money and their compassion is nil like the Republican "compassion". All the ear marks of the cause of the French Reveloution...maybe we need an American Reveloution again starting with getting corporations under controll like Madison advised. Years ago corps were controlled and interest charges were not allowed to get beyond a reasonable point. Jesus would be throwing out the money changers in this nation as they are strangling the little man....the Good Book warns us about greed and the Republican motto is greed is good...how can Fundamentalist "Christians" put their vote behind this party as they have if they are following Jesus? Considering how the Fundamentalist have sold their vote to acquire power to make others do as they religiously believe reminds me when Christ was told by the Devil if Christ would worship him he would give all the worlds to him...Christ didn't sell out for cohersive power like the Fundamentalist religion did to the Neocons...by their fruits you will know them...well look at the fruits of the Republicans...war, depreviation, death,me-first-ism, the slow death of our planet do to business creating pollution, scarcity, etc. We were warned by the Good Book not to worship Mammon but to follow God's instructions of compassion and humanity and to care for our planet. Yes, the Devil is the ruler of this world because humankind refuses to look at itself and continues with its baser nature and is in deep denial.

[eridani]

30. When we start running out of water and cheap energy n/t

[The Inquisitive]

31. oohhh speculative doomsday melodrama

these kinds of threads are my favorite.

Here is my say. How much more of this bullshit will humanity take? Having superficially glanced over human history I would conclude that answer is a lot. Likely thousands upon thousands of years more to come.

[Mind_your_head]

37. Don't knock on my door if/when you need food.....

I won't show much 'mercy' (or food) with the likes of *you* and *your kind/type*.

[The Inquisitive]

43. I can always count on DU for a laugh

thanks.

[silverojo]

32. I think history will repeat itself

Just as during the Great Depression, Republican selfishness is running this country into the ground.

Just as with the New Deal, it'll take a Democrat to pull us out of the mess.

And, as usual, Republicans will scream at the "socialist" solutions that saved our nation.

Funny how people always go along with the Repukes, until THEY become affected by the economic misery. Then they come whining to the Democrats, who bail them out...and as soon as things are going well again, those same people will run right back to the Republicans and their party-and-spend policies. :mad:

[earth mom]

33. When will the poor start eating the rich? Soon I hope!

:grr:

[U4ikLefty]

35. Dude, that was some great dark-sarcasm....My second rec ever.

Great concept...it is very "A Modest Proposal" like.

It fits my mood since I just came back from the Knott's Berry Farm Halloween Haunt. So I am in that kinda mood.

[Didereaux]

36. Just as soon as I get the butcher knives all sharpened! ;) n/t

[L. Coyote]

39. Jungle joke: Missionaries taste better than monkeys. Start with fat preachers!

:rofl:

[Forkboy]

40. I've been pro cannibalism for years.

Right now we're just picking on the chickens and cows. :shrug:

[Didereaux]

41. Another tasty Soylent Green snack cracker, anyone? n/t

[H2O Man]

42. Bob Marley/ Burnin & Looting

This morning I woke up in a curfew;
O god, I was a prisoner, too - yeah!
Could not recognize the faces standing over me;
They were all dressed in uniforms of brutality. eh!

How many rivers do we have to cross,
Before we can talk to the boss? eh!
All that we got, it seems we have lost;
We must have really paid the cost.

(thats why we gonna be)
Burnin and a-lootin tonight;
(say we gonna burn and loot)
Burnin and a-lootin tonight;
(one more thing)
Burnin all pollution tonight;
(oh, yeah, yeah)
Burnin all illusion tonight.

Oh, stop them!

Give me the food and let me grow;
Let the roots man take a blow.
All them drugs gonna make you slow now;
Its not the music of the ghetto. eh!

Weeping and a-wailin tonight;
(who can stop the tears? )
Weeping and a-wailin tonight;
(weve been suffering these long, long-a years!)
Weeping and a-wailin tonight
(will you say cheer? )
Weeping and a-wailin tonight
(but where? )

Give me the food and let me grow;
Let the roots man take a blow.
I must say: all them - all them drugs gonna make you slow;
Its not the music of the ghetto.

We gonna be burning and a-looting tonight;
(to survive, yeah!)
Burning and a-looting tonight;
(save your baby lives)
Burning all pollution tonight;
(pollution, yeah, yeah!)
Burning all illusion tonight
(lord-a, lord-a, lord-a, lord!)

Burning and a-looting tonight;
Burning and a-looting tonight;
Burning all pollution tonight.