Is it me, or are things out of control lately?

[JeffersonChick]

It seems to me that there's so much crisis going on recently:

Recession/financial reform issues
Gulf oil spill
Uproar in AZ re: immigration
Europe financial crisis
Israeli attacks
Etc, etc. etc

Either:

A) I've been watching the news more than ever lately, and until now I must have been hiding under a rock. Or,

B) Things really have reached a critical mass.

???

[monmouth]

1. God and Mother Nature are very irritated with us. We do not listen

to sage advice, we've been acting bratty and spoiled and have no respect for anything. They both decided it was time for us to get our act together, thus, all of the calamity mentioned above....(sarcasm)

[Oregone]

7. It took them that long too get fed up?

And they respond with disaster?

Something about that brings in to question the idea of both omni-benevolence and omniscience

[Oregone]

48. to

why do I do that?

[Goldstein1984]

2. B

[PDJane]

3. I pick B.

And unless we get our act together, the whole damn world is going to come down around our ears.

[gateley]

4. B. I feel as though we're almost at the tinderbox point. nt

[inna]

5. It's not just you.... And welcome to DU, btw!

:hi:

[JeffersonChick]

13. Thanks inna!

[laylah]

6. LATELY?

:hug:

[Hardrada]

8. Korea.

[JeffersonChick]

14. DOH! How did I overlook Korea?!

[NYC_SKP]

9. Don't forget the Virus attacking the world's third greatest source of calories...

Cassava brown streak virus, attacking a major staple, major food source in "underdeveloped" countries.

:wtf:

[Drunken Irishman]

10. All a buildup to 2012.

[H2O Man]

11. Things are spinning

out of control, and the speed is increasing. It is important, at this time, for all people of good will to take time for slow, positive actions.

[patrice]

19. ILY.

:hug:

[BlancheSplanchnik]

20. very true. It's easy to get caught up in the bickering and bemoaning

when you feel insignificant in the face of Big Fear.

Slow, positive actions even if small.

Sharing ideas and successes in slow, positive actions--hmm, sounds like that could be a good thread to focus on, as an alternative to wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[agent46]

12. B n/t

[csziggy]

15. I am so depressed about the state of the world

Many, many years ago I read a science fiction story that today is filling me with dread. It was about a man who studied cyclical trends and realized that all his graphs were reaching top or bottom at the same time shortly in the future. Once he calculated the time when ever graph was at peak or nadir, he took his wife on vacation. The story ends with them enjoying a nice day in the country when she realized that there are large sunspots that are spreading across the sun.

I read this story over 35 years ago, and it could have been published long before that since I collect old science fiction anthologies and it could have been published any time since the thirties. In other words, long before the Mayan or Hopi prophecies or Nostradamus became popular. Back then I thought it was just a neat premise for a story.

These days I wonder if the author had something in mind?

[Odin2005]

16. Welcome to The 4th Turning

http://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Turning-William-Strauss/dp/0767900464

The next 20 years are gonna suck. The institutional order of society that emerged out of the Depression and WW2 is collapsing and a new order will rise in it's place.

The generational alignment of the 4th turning:

Principled Elders that raised political hell as young adults and reformed the culture (Boomers)
Pragmatic realists in middle age cooling off the passions of the elders (Gen-X)
Collectivistic, technology-loving, young adults that will reform the institutions of society (Millennials)

[conspirator]

33. It's gonna be really ugly. Blood is not out ruled n/t

[gateley]

17. Welcome to DU, JeffersonChick!

:hi:

[saracat]

18. Nope , it isn't just you. Welcome to DU!

[patrice]

21. B.

:cry: = BOP is really getting to me.

[Radical Activist]

22. Things are getting better. Stop watching corporate news.

They don't focus on the worst problems anyway.

[William Z. Foster]

31. oh really?

Mostly illusion and denial is being presented on corporate news.

Things are much worse in the real world than you would ever think they are by watching corporate news.

[Radical Activist]

37. They sell fear and disaster porn.

Yes, there are problems ignored by the press, but there's no shortage of hysteria generated over stupid bullshit. Many things are getting better.

[William Z. Foster]

38. other way around

Yes, they sell fear and porn - all trivial stuff. Nothing compared to the global catastrophe hurtling toward us.

How does someone calling themselves Radical Activist with a Che avatar get to "things are getting better, don't worry?" Strange juxtaposition and contradiction there.

[Radical Activist]

41. Wow Jack Van Impe! That sounds dark and ominous!

I find that people who are convinced that there's a "global catastrophe hurtling toward us" tend to feel that way no matter what's happening in the world.

People who believe that change is hopelessly impossible never become effective change agents. They just get in the way and hold others back with their self-righteous cynicism.

[Greyhound]

45. Corporate authoritarian to the core, but will vehemently deny it...

has been playing this game for years.

Specialty, when not actually defending corporatism as pragmatism, is the weak argument.

[Radical Activist]

46. Cute. Are you one of those posters

who always makes a comment about my avatar when you can't develop a counterpoint to my arguments? I bet you are. The fact that you're making that accusation in response to my post attacking the corporate media shows just how hollow your personal attacks are.

I wonder if anyone else will agree that my harsh criticism of the corporate media makes me a corporate authoritarian. :rofl: :yourock:

[Greyhound]

47. Nope, just one that has watched what you write.

And your "harsh criticism" is classic weak argument, consistently ignoring the main point and setting up easy targets for others to knock down.

Now, vogue...

[Radical Activist]

49. If I were an authoritarian I would support a single-payer system

like our friend Dennis. The left authoritarians always have the hardest time understanding my perspective.

And I was directly addressing the main point of the OP by pointing out the media's tendency (agenda) to keep people in a constant state of alarm. You would agree with the point if I used the typical buzzwords you're used to hearing elsewhere (a public kept in fear is easier to control etc, etc). I know its difficult for some people to diverge from familiar orthodoxy.

[William Z. Foster]

50. well, diverge away

Diverge away from familiar orthodoxy. Give us a chance to understand your perspective. Present it.

[conspirator]

39. Unless you have secret plans for a revolution. I see corporations getting more powerfull

by the day.
How can that be better?

[Radical Activist]

40. Corporations got weaker this month.

You didn't notice banking regulations? Yes, I know it doesn't solve the root problems, blah, blah, blah. But, it is progress. The tide is turning back.

[Swede]

23. This has been going on throughout history.

It only worse,cause we're living in it right now.

[yella_dawg]

24. Reality is undergoing a complex transition.

Mathematical term that basically means grab your butt, it's gonna get weird. The upside is that in such situations, things can get way better just as easily as it can get worse. But getting there is gonna be tricky.

[William Z. Foster]

34. much better, and very soon

There will be hardship and danger, and many of us will be called upon to make great sacrifices, but nothing is more miserable than the suspended animation of dread and denial we have been living with. Better to know the unpleasant truth than to wonder and worry. Better to die with your boots on fighting for the good cause then to tepidly and timidly live out your days cringing and cowering and groveling.

[Odin2005]

42. Phase change...

[Birthmark]

25. A

Stuff is always happening. Some of it is happening to the US, which is somewhat unusual, so we tend to notice more.

[Jester Messiah]

26. Yeah... Obama needs to get a handle on things.

He's starting to look really ineffective, and that's the death knell of a presidency. He's got to apply some leadership, and quickly.

[H2O Man]

28. he ate my homework

[William Z. Foster]

35. not important

This is not about Obama. He is just a fellow passenger on a ship in a storm that is approaching the reef. We are so far beyond partisan politics now and past worrying about any politician's career,

[Jester Messiah]

51. Fair enough... but things get worse if Obama is replaced by a Repug.

That's why I want him to start making some bold, decisive moves. I want him to start cleaning up messes, to start restoring some stability... both for the sake of his career and because it's the right thing for our country and the world.

[William Z. Foster]

53. hmmm

That is a relatively minor variable. Our job is the same either way.

[butterfly77]

27. And add the..

shit the republiCONS make up that turn into a crisis like the teabbaggers, among other things then once something gets out of hand then they want to turn tail and run and blame on the good old Dems..

[Subdivisions]

29. It's B, critical mass. More war on the way also. n/t

[William Z. Foster]

30. it is all unraveling

Are we prepared? Apparently the Greek people are.

[eShirl]

32. "under control" was only an illusion

[donco6]

36. It's got me looking over my shoulder for a mushroom cloud.

Jeebus.

[spin]

43. Just the lead up to 2012. (n/t)

[treestar]

44. the mess Bush left us with will not get better quickly

Until things get worse first.

[Redstate Blueboy]

52. Lately?

Go back 8,000 years. (It's kind of in our nature.)

[JeffersonChick]

54. Pardon my ignorance, but what does n/t mean?

[FedUpWithIt All]

55. It means no text. Helpful if you're scrolling the page.

Welcome to DU!

Edited to add...i have long believed we were heading for a transition. Too many cultures and faiths have spoken of it and frankly, you could just sorta feel it coming. The warnings were that the transition could be easy and peaceful or painful and difficult. We seem to have chosen the difficult route.



Hopi Prophecy Rock