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Guest Post: The Tunnel People That Live Under The Streets Of America

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

Did you know that there are thousands upon thousands of homeless people that are living underground beneath the streets of major U.S. cities?  It is happening in Las Vegas, it is happening in New York City and it is even happening in Kansas City.  As the economy crumbles, poverty in the United States is absolutely exploding and so is homelessness. 

In addition to the thousands of "tunnel people" living under the streets of America, there are also thousands that are living in tent cities, there are tens of thousands that are living in their vehicles and there are more than a million public school children that do not have a home to go back to at night.  The federal government tells us that the recession "is over" and that "things are getting better", and yet poverty and homelessness in this country continue to rise with no end in sight.  So what in the world are things going to look like when the next economic crisis hits?

When I heard that there were homeless people living in a network of underground tunnels beneath the streets of Kansas City, I was absolutely stunned.  I have relatives that live in that area.  I never thought of Kansas City as one of the more troubled cities in the United States.

But according to the Daily Mail, police recently discovered a network of tunnels under the city that people had been living in...

Below the streets of Kansas City, there are deep underground tunnels where a group of vagrant homeless people lived in camps.

 

These so-called homeless camps have now been uncovered by the Kansas City Police, who then evicted the residents because of the unsafe environment.

 

Authorities said these people were living in squalor, with piles of garbage and dirty diapers left around wooded areas.

The saddest part is the fact that authorities found dirty diapers in the areas near these tunnels.  That must mean that babies were being raised in that kind of an environment.

Unfortunately, this kind of thing is happening all over the nation.  In recent years, the tunnel people of Las Vegas have received quite a bit of publicity all over the world.  It has been estimated that more than 1,000 people live in the massive network of flood tunnels under the city...

Deep beneath Vegas’s glittering lights lies a sinister labyrinth inhabited by poisonous spiders and a man nicknamed The Troll who wields an iron bar.

 

But astonishingly, the 200 miles of flood tunnels are also home to 1,000 people who eke out a living in the strip’s dark underbelly.

 

Some, like Steven and his girlfriend Kathryn, have furnished their home with considerable care - their 400sq ft 'bungalow' boasts a double bed, a wardrobe and even a bookshelf.

Could you imagine living like that?  Sadly, for an increasing number of Americans a "normal lifestyle" is no longer an option.  Either they have to go to the homeless shelters or they have to try to eke out an existence on their own any way that they can.

In New York City, authorities are constantly trying to root out the people that live in the tunnels under the city and yet they never seem to be able to find them all.  The following is from a New York Post article about the "Mole People" that live underneath New York City...

The homeless people who live down here are called Mole People. They do not, as many believe, exist in a separate, organized underground society. It's more of a solitary existence and loose-knit community of secretive, hard-luck individuals.

The New York Post followed one homeless man known as "John Travolta" on a tour through the underground world.  What they discovered was a world that is very much different from what most New Yorkers experience...

In the tunnels, their world is one of malt liquor, tight spaces, schizophrenic neighbors, hunger and spells of heat and cold. Travolta and the others eat fairly well, living on a regimented schedule of restaurant leftovers, dumped each night at different times around the neighborhood above his foreboding home.

Even as the Dow hits record high after record high, poverty in New York City continues to rise at a very frightening pace.  Incredibly, the number of homeless people sleeping in the homeless shelters of New York City has increased by a whopping 19 percent over the past year.

In many of our major cities, the homeless shelters are already at maximum capacity and are absolutely packed night after night.  Large numbers of homeless people are often left to fend for themselves.

That is one reason why we have seen the rise of so many tent cities.

Yes, the tent cities are still there, they just aren't getting as much attention these days because they do not fit in with the "economic recovery" narrative that the mainstream media is currently pushing.

In fact, many of the tent cities are larger than ever.  For example, you can check out a Reuters video about a growing tent city in New Jersey that was posted on YouTube at the end of March right here.  A lot of these tent cities have now become permanent fixtures, and unfortunately they will probably become much larger when the next major economic crisis strikes.

But perhaps the saddest part of all of this is the massive number of children that are suffering night after night.

For the first time ever, more than a million public school children in the United States are homeless.  That number has risen by 57 percent since the 2006-2007 school year.

So if things are really "getting better", then why in the world do we have more than a million public school children without homes?

These days a lot of families that have lost their homes have ended up living in their vehicles.  The following is an excerpt from a 60 Minutes interview with one family that is living in their truck...

This is the home of the Metzger family. Arielle,15. Her brother Austin, 13. Their mother died when they were very young. Their dad, Tom, is a carpenter. And, he's been looking for work ever since Florida's construction industry collapsed. When foreclosure took their house, he bought the truck on Craigslist with his last thousand dollars. Tom's a little camera shy - thought we ought to talk to the kids - and it didn't take long to see why.

 

Pelley: How long have you been living in this truck?

 

Arielle Metzger: About five months.

 

Pelley: What's that like?

 

Arielle Metzger: It's an adventure.

 

Austin Metzger: That's how we see it.

 

Pelley: When kids at school ask you where you live, what do you tell 'em?

 

Austin Metzger: When they see the truck they ask me if I live in it, and when I hesitate they kinda realize. And they say they won't tell anybody.

 

Arielle Metzger: Yeah it's not really that much an embarrassment. I mean, it's only life. You do what you need to do, right?

But after watching a news report or reading something on the Internet about these people we rapidly forget about them because they are not a part of "our world".

Another place where a lot of poor people end up is in prison.  In a previous article, I detailed how the prison population in the United States has been booming in recent years.  If you can believe it, the United States now has approximately 25 percent of the entire global prison population even though it only has about 5 percent of the total global population.

And these days it is not just violent criminals that get thrown into prison.  If you lose your job and get behind on your bills, you could be thrown into prison as well.  The following is from a recent CBS News article...

Roughly a third of U.S. states today jail people for not paying off their debts, from court-related fines and fees to credit card and car loans, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Such practices contravene a 1983 United States Supreme Court ruling that they violate the Constitutions's Equal Protection Clause.

 

Some states apply "poverty penalties," such as late fees, payment plan fees and interest, when people are unable to pay all their debts at once. Alabama charges a 30 percent collection fee, for instance, while Florida allows private debt collectors to add a 40 percent surcharge on the original debt. Some Florida counties also use so-called collection courts, where debtors can be jailed but have no right to a public defender. In North Carolina, people are charged for using a public defender, so poor defendants who can't afford such costs may be forced to forgo legal counsel.

 

The high rates of unemployment and government fiscal shortfalls that followed the housing crash have increased the use of debtors' prisons, as states look for ways to replenish their coffers. Said Chettiar, "It's like drawing blood from a stone. States are trying to increase their revenue on the backs of the poor."

If you are poor, the United States can be an incredibly cold and cruel place.  Mercy and compassion are in very short supply.

The middle class continues to shrink and poverty continues to grow with each passing year.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately one out of every six Americans is now living in poverty.  And if you throw in those that are considered to be "near poverty", that number becomes much larger.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 146 million Americans are either "poor" or "low income".

For many more facts about the rapid increase of poverty in this country, please see my previous article entitled "21 Statistics About The Explosive Growth Of Poverty In America That Everyone Should Know".

But even as poverty grows, it seems like the hearts of those that still do have money are getting colder.  Just check out what happened recently at a grocery store that was in the process of closing down in Augusta, Georgia...

Residents filled the parking lot with bags and baskets hoping to get some of the baby food, canned goods, noodles and other non-perishables. But a local church never came to pick up the food, as the storeowner prior to the eviction said they had arranged. By the time the people showed up for the food, what was left inside the premises—as with any eviction—came into the ownership of the property holder, SunTrust Bank.

 

The bank ordered the food to be loaded into dumpsters and hauled to a landfill instead of distributed. The people that gathered had to be restrained by police as they saw perfectly good food destroyed. Local Sheriff Richard Roundtree told the news “a potential for a riot was extremely high.”

Can you imagine watching that happen?

But of course handouts and charity are only temporary solutions.  What the poor in this country really need are jobs, and unfortunately there has not been a jobs recovery in the United States since the recession ended.

In fact, the employment crisis looks like it is starting to take another turn for the worse.  The number of layoffs in the month of March was 30 percent higher than the same time a year ago.

Meanwhile, small businesses are indicating that hiring is about to slow down significantly.  According to a recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, small businesses in the United States are extremely pessimistic right now.  The following is what Goldman Sachs had to say about this survey...

Components of the survey were consistent with the decline in headline optimism, as the net percent of respondents planning to hire fell to 0% (from +4%), those expecting higher sales fell to -4% (from +1%), and those reporting that it is a good time to expand ticked down to +4% (from +5%). The net percent of respondents expecting the economy to improve was unchanged at -28%, a very depressed level. However, on the positive side, +25% of respondents plan increased capital spending [ZH: With Alcoa CapEx spending at a 2 year low]. Small business owners continue to place poor sales, taxes, and red tape at the top of their list of business problems, as they have for the past several years.

So why aren't our politicians doing anything to fix this?

For example, why in the world don't they stop millions of our jobs from being sent out of the country?

Well, the truth is that they don't think we have a problem.  In fact, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson recently said that U.S. trade deficits "don't matter".

He apparently does not seem alarmed that more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities have been shut down in the United States since 2001.

And since the last election, the White House has seemed to have gone into permanent party mode.

On Tuesday, another extravagant party will be held at the White House.  It is being called "In Performance at the White House: Memphis Soul", and it is going to include some of the biggest names in the music industry...

As the White House has previously announced, Justin Timberlake (who will be making his White House debut), Al Green, Ben Harper, Queen Latifah, Cyndi Lauper, Joshua Ledet, Sam Moore, Charlie Musselwhite, Mavis Staples, and others will be performing at the exclusive event.

And so who will be paying for all of this?

You and I will be.  Even as the Obamas cry about all of the other "spending cuts" that are happening, they continue to blow millions of taxpayer dollars on wildly extravagant parties and vacations.

Overall, U.S. taxpayers will spend well over a billion dollars on the Obamas this year.

I wonder what the tunnel people that live under the streets of America think about that.

Living Underground - Photo by Patrick Cashin

 

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Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:15 | 3441714 autofixer
autofixer's picture

Didn't I see this in a movie??? Was it The Time Machine or was it Demolition Man?   Which one did the people from underground come out and kill the above ground people?

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:18 | 3441731 Schmuck Raker
Schmuck Raker's picture

C.H.U.D.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:30 | 3441790 edifice
edifice's picture

It was Demolition Man.  They came out of the sewers to steal food from Taco Bell.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:59 | 3441913 Osmium
Osmium's picture

Really, they came out to steal food from Taco Bell?  Must have been really fkn hungry!

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:48 | 3442141 edifice
edifice's picture

In the movie, Taco Bell had morphed into an upscale restaurant.  The elite of "San Angeles" would eat there.  It was rather amusing. :)

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:32 | 3441804 Monedas
Monedas's picture

Waterworld ?

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:34 | 3442085 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

How about the last Dark Knight movie - they take over Gotham and have socialist Kangaroo courts....

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:40 | 3441840 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

"Barry and the Magic Bolshevik Machine."

Sat, 04/13/2013 - 16:14 | 3445071 trader1
trader1's picture

Total Recall.

 

"What do you want Mr. Quaid?"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFe7_DYHjzI

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:19 | 3441737 Schmuck Raker
Schmuck Raker's picture

Someone should tell these people the S&P and DOW are at all time highs.

That'll brighten their day!

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:19 | 3441740 dontgoforit
dontgoforit's picture

This happens alot in countries led by Africans.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:28 | 3442038 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

yes, and all those african bankers running the show.

(they want you to think like that)  

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:21 | 3441741 sangell
sangell's picture

Tunnels are shovel ready homes

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:36 | 3441744 JustObserving
JustObserving's picture

America is the greatest nation in the history of the world.  Ergo, we cannot have tent cities or people living in tunnels. You must be a terrorist to talk about homelessness in America.

Besides, America spends $629 more per household than the median income.  Why should you be homeless if the government is spending $50,074 per household?

http://www.sumnerbooks.com/books/view/completely-predictable

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:24 | 3441757 IridiumRebel
IridiumRebel's picture

They're worth a billion, are they not? Long C.H.U.D.s.......

 

/sarc

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:24 | 3441759 orangegeek
orangegeek's picture

No wonder Barry stopped the WH tours. 

 

When your country hates your fucking guts, you probably wouldn't want them walking through your living room either.

 

Obamanomics - a scum sucking communist couldn't have done it better.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:29 | 3441775 Monedas
Monedas's picture

If youse black .... Bama's got yo back .... If youse white .... stay outta sight !  If youse black .... the social worker comes to you .... if youse white .... good luck filling out the forms and waiting in line !

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:41 | 3441841 YHC-FTSE
YHC-FTSE's picture

<chorus>

Go Obama go Obama go go go

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 17:11 | 3442093 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

But there's so many more WHITE people on WELFARE than minority people.

/sarc off

And by the way - why isn't the guy living in the truck with two teenagers receiving the plethora of gubmint "services" such as Section 8 housing, WIC, EBT, etc.? 

Is it because they are WHITE? Or he is a man (not a poor helpless woman). 

They have no family on either side to live with?  Or is he just camping out so that kids can go to a better school system?  Their story is hinky.

The above along with the fact that only 8 people were evacuated from the tunnels in KC indicate that this story is sensational BULLSHIT. 

Yes people are hurting:  Yes life is hard:  Yes the world sucks and there are winners and losers in this world.   

This story is not the way to rationally discuss these problems.  This story should be on TMZ.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:54 | 3442471 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

Hope and Change

waiting in line

at the underground railroad

the train derailed

and I'm trapped

in my station

a captive of the situation

hoping for change

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:27 | 3441776 world_debt_slave
world_debt_slave's picture

yep, when I re-located in the summer of last year, I stayed with friends for a couple of months, but that can only last so long. Then I moved into my van for a couple of months until the church co-signed an apartment for me and has been paying my rent as I only have a part time, minimum wage job and no full time employment opportunities have panned out yet.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:58 | 3442484 Cathartes Aura
Cathartes Aura's picture

there's a reason government exempts churches from taxation(s), and prezzydents work with "faith based initiatives"

OFBCI was established by President George W. Bush through executive order[2] on January 29, 2001, representing one of the key domestic policies of Bush's campaign promise of "compassionate conservatism." The initiative sought to strengthen faith-based and community organizations and expand their capacity to provide federally-funded social services, with the idea having been that these groups were well-situated to meet the needs of local individuals. As Texas governor, Bush had used the "Charitable Choice" provisions of the 1996 welfare reform (which allowed "faith-based" entities to compete for government contracts to deliver social services) to support the work of faith-based groups in Texas.

and for all those who bleat about who gets what, might want to cast your net a bit wider for the whole truths.

no judgement call, people need all the help they can get these days, and respect to you for bringing the real story here to ZH. . .

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 17:06 | 3442899 nobita
nobita's picture

I sincerly hope your luck turns soon, stay strong man. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:26 | 3441779 dcohen
dcohen's picture

Is there any company designing narrow tunnel navigating killing drones?

Obama will surely silently liquidate this scum of the earth as he finds out they might blow his cover.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:33 | 3441806 JohnGaltsChild
JohnGaltsChild's picture

Grapes of Wrath, we're there.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:38 | 3441829 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Gee, seem like real news is being censored.

So, how many are surprised we are now the Soviet Union?

Forward, Comrades!

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:04 | 3442227 GeezerGeek
GeezerGeek's picture

News that puts the progressive collective in a bad light is ignored, not censored. 

"Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative."

If some Republican regains the presidency (doubtful) the MSM will suddenly discover all sorts of problems. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:43 | 3441847 I am a Man I am...
I am a Man I am Forty's picture

Permanent camping is a rather free lifestyle.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:43 | 3441850 SoNH80
SoNH80's picture

In today's socio-economic environment, that of the early 21st century, people are obsolete.  Before having any children, ask yourself:

What will my child do for a living?

Will my child be "perfect" enough to climb up the "meritocracy" greasy pole?  Will affirmative action-type practices hurt or help my child?

If my child can be expected to be fairly ordinary in academic and/or athletic ability, am I prepared to inculcate an ethic of total self-reliance in him?-- As it is increasingly unlikely every day that the existing power structure will offer gainful employment to such a person?

Mass unemployment is the problem, and it is getting worse.  We can argue about the causes a million ways, but the problem is here, and there is no solution on the horizon.  Young people, and their parents, must mentally prepare for this new reality.

 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:02 | 3441926 Chump
Chump's picture

I refuse to frame the question of bringing life into this world in the ways you suggest.  It implies that I should limit myself and my family simply because hordes of banksters and politicians are pure scum.  It gives power to those that least deserve it.  Fuck them.  I love my family and I will be welcoming another precious child WITH OPEN ARMS.

Piss on this clusterfuck we call an economy, and piss on those running it.  I can barter, build, hunt, and trap, I will teach those skills to those that follow me, and I will not be beaten down just because yet another collective hive has failed to achieve perfect central planning.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:11 | 3441960 SoNH80
SoNH80's picture

You are thinking in precisely the right terms.  Self-reliance. If you are in a zone where your offspring can live off the land, that is really great.

In the mega-cities, people should not expect the "Junior will get into Harvard because he's so SPECIAL" mechanism to work any more.  I live on the outer edges of the biggest mega-city in the Western World, so for me, a different path makes more sense.  Another path of self-reliance.  I would leave this place if I could, but loved ones prefer it here, so until they pass on, I am here, and not about to chain myself down more than I already have, and force my children to be raised in this toxic environment.

My message is to think about the issue in realistic terms, and proceed accordingly.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:15 | 3441981 Chump
Chump's picture

Absolutely, spot on.  I'm looking at your previous comment with more clarity now.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:01 | 3442211 centerline
centerline's picture

+1.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:37 | 3442102 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

All my kids are mixed, so they can check off any affirmative action box they like.  This is by design.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:50 | 3442444 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

Overpopulation means lives are cheap, and resources dear.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 17:32 | 3443001 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

Soylent Green is made of people!

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:44 | 3441854 moneybots
moneybots's picture

"So what in the world are things going to look like when the next economic crisis hits?"

 

Next crisis?  We haven't left this one, yet.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:55 | 3441895 Benjamin Glutton
Benjamin Glutton's picture

NK may make these folks brilliant survivors.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:46 | 3442430 toady
toady's picture

We cannot allow a mine shaft gap!

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:55 | 3441898 akak
akak's picture

We’ve never had a decline in tunnel prices on a nationwide basis.

No risk of that.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:27 | 3442324 RockyRacoon
RockyRacoon's picture

Are you saying there's a tunnel bubble?

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:36 | 3442374 akak
akak's picture

No, merely that tunnel prices have reached a permanently high plateau.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:00 | 3442489 dontgoforit
dontgoforit's picture

Time to start selling 'bit-tunnels'

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:18 | 3442583 akak
akak's picture

Tunnel-backed securities.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 20:03 | 3443441 Hulk
Hulk's picture

All signed by Linda Dark...

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:28 | 3442648 Jena
Jena's picture

I think a tunnel bubble might be called a bleb.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:57 | 3441903 Zer0head
Zer0head's picture

Tunnels and then this from none other than USA Today

Auschwitz? no Philly

"Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive"

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/04/10/philadelphia-abortion-c...

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:15 | 3442264 GeezerGeek
GeezerGeek's picture

"I'm Barack Obama, and I approve post-abortion infanticide." Disgusting, but true; check his record as state senator.

Kermit Gosnell has been almost completely ignored by the MSM. His story doesn't advance the progressive narrative, so he is treated as a non-person. Ditto Corzine, or a host of other progressive bums. But illegal bugging the offices of a Republican senator lead to - comments about what the senator's aides were saying, not about the illegal bugging.

Stop the world, I want to get off. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:58 | 3441906 Bingfa
Bingfa's picture

Senate votes to shield top officials financial disclosures....

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/12/senate-votes-shield-top-...

"The Senate voted late Thursday to free thousands of federal government employees from having to disclose their financial dealings online, in a move that’s proving to be controversial."

You don't really want to CATCH them insider trading...right

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:57 | 3441907 moneybots
moneybots's picture

"Well, the truth is that they don't think we have a problem.  In fact, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson recently said that U.S. trade deficits "don't matter".

He apparently does not seem alarmed that more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities have been shut down in the United States since 2001."

 

The question is, who truly are Ron Johnson's constituents?  They are the one's who consider trade deficits not to matter and are funding him.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:57 | 3441910 JOYFUL
JOYFUL's picture

A new class has risen to power, and now feels at ease enough to celebrate their accession openly...

While the traditional retailers to the working Merikan...Sears, Walmart, Penney, etc, have all reported sales downtrending, luxury brand retailers are booming. This is exactly what is to be expected in a 'jobless recovery' - the new elite are 'recovering' Merika with the fabric of their victory...

Whole Foods is the marquee banner of this transformation...there, the new 'progressive' elite secure their supplies of nonGMO* foods, as the are aware that the Monsanto-mandated stuff causes sterility. They will raise their children protected from the vicious cycle of bad food\poor health\heavy healthcare costs that will kill off those they deem expendable\too costly to 're-educate.'

There is nothing new here...the Bolsheviks granted themselves the privileges of victory over the Russian people a century ago...and killed them off in the millions. If you expect something different than that result now that the 'progressive' revolution has conquered it's enemies in the USA, you are under a great delusion.

*it's important to realize, however, that WF sells a lot of GMOs...under cover -insiders know the codes to be able to avoid the scam - and killed off almost all the independent clean foods sellers so as to reduce public choice and be in control of supply chains\producers.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:19 | 3442278 GeezerGeek
GeezerGeek's picture

William Ayers, autobiographer of President Obama, claimed in his radical days that successful political reeducation might entail the deaths of some 25 million Americans. Of course, that was half a century ago. Probably 40 million would need to go nowadays. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:39 | 3442389 aerojet
aerojet's picture

Why do communists always have to resort to mass murder?  If their plans were so great, you'd think it wouldn't be necessary to kill millions of people.  They're insane, there's no other word to describe it.  How many mass shootings were committed by Democrats?  I think pretty much all of them.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 13:58 | 3441914 Stuck on Zero
Stuck on Zero's picture

Jobs?  Heck.  The U.S. has created tens of millions of jobs in China, Bangladesh, Japan, Korea, ...

 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:04 | 3441933 Nothing To See Here
Nothing To See Here's picture

There's got to be something bullish about the increase of the tunnels population, right?

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:21 | 3442297 GeezerGeek
GeezerGeek's picture

I bet the police who were cleaning out the vagrants will next refurbish the tunnels so they and their families have a place to hide when SHTF arrives.

Unfortunately, southeastern Florida has no tunnel system. Just numerous bridges to live under, if you don't mind being disturbed by all the Gallardos, Aventadors and Ferrari 599s roaring by.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:03 | 3441936 moneybots
moneybots's picture

"In fact, many of the tent cities are larger than ever."

 

I have not heard anything of tent cities since Bush was President.  Apparently tent cities are not supposed to exist under democrat Presidents. Out of sight, out of mind.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:35 | 3442091 adr
adr's picture

There was a tent city in downtown Cleveland right off the I90 exit to Downtown. Some people think the overpass construction was a ploy to move the tent city away from the sport arenas. The flats now resembles the Narrows from The Dark Knight.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:53 | 3442171 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

That would be an upgrade to downtown Cleveland.... What a shithole.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:22 | 3441940 earleflorida
earleflorida's picture

The Obama's: '2013 Africana Band Stand'... a quasi roman`esque, 'bread & circus daily event', hosted by queen 'michelle-ze-belle', with a colorful live cast brought to you by Jay Z and the Thunderbird's... featuring a mini golf course tutored by brother tiger, and narrated by freeman hobb's-- a calvinistic hip-hop extravaganza event is this nascent adventurous wonder jungle`mania called the, 'white-house cabin, skid`dad'dy'ohla'.... hurry, seating is limited for barry 'the tight-rope-dare-devil' over the ancien`regime rubicon???

definitely worth the price of entry!!!

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:36 | 3442088 duffelpud
duffelpud's picture

How very 'Tom Wolfe' of you.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:29 | 3442047 Cheeseus Sonofdog
Cheeseus Sonofdog's picture

The problem is we have taken away liberty. You used to be able to be poor in this nation. Now you can't even keep a home in the ghetto because you are forced to pay property taxes. You can't feed your family because zoning says you can't have a garden. You can't take advantage of the fish or deer, because government forces you to buy an expensive license and regulates weapons making them more expensive. It costs you to even work, because government makes you have auto insurance and various fees. Now Obama has made breathing an expense, as we all are mandated to have the speculative hedge called health insurance. 

 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:12 | 3442253 TheMeatTrapper
TheMeatTrapper's picture

 

This article shows that there are two ways to approach economic hardship. The first is through rugged indiviualism, which will get you tossed in jail or living in a thousand dollar car. The other is to scam the system and load up on Obama phones, EBT cards, Section 8 housing and all the other freebies. This results in big screen TV's, Escalades and sack loads of tater chips from Walmart.

Our entire centrally planned economy penalizes everyone who wishes to distance themselves from the system and rewards those who choose to become dependent upon it. All you have to do is pledge your vote. All five of them. 

 

BTW, anyone interested in learning to trap their food can start at my site http://www.meattrapper.com. Trapping and snaring can be done in urban and suburban areas in a much more stealthy and cost efficient method than hunting. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:32 | 3442346 GeezerGeek
GeezerGeek's picture

"Our entire centrally planned economy penalizes everyone who wishes to distance themselves from the system and rewards those who choose to become dependent upon it."

Tom Paxton: "You've got a slot to fill, and fill that slot you will. You'll learn to love it, or we'll break you."

"Trapping and snaring can be done in urban and suburban areas in a much more stealthy and cost efficient method than hunting. "

But as Joe Biden recently pointed out, hunting is more fun because holding a gun makes us feel like we're driving a Ferrari.

http://www.ibtimes.com/joe-biden-ferrari-biden-says-gun-owners-want-feel-theyre-driving-ferrari-video-1189389

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:09 | 3443101 WillyGroper
WillyGroper's picture

What'dya do with your pelts?

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:08 | 3443090 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

There is nowhere you can go in this country without paying for the priveledge of breathing. You can't even afford to die anymore. The death process is made as long and drawn out and painful as possible. In comparison, Edward G Robinson's endgame in Soylent Green is downright compassionate compared to how people must spend their last days in the west. Which is why I would think long and hard before bringing a child into this world. Things are not going to get better--they are going to get worse. We will never achieve energy independence--that's a 4 decade old lie that needs to die. Energy is the REAL currency, not fiat, not bitcoins, and not even your precious PMs. No energy, no civilization. It's that simple. Don't feed a dying system. Don't be producer or supporter--go John Galt on its ass. And to repeat for the second time, engage in some hard cerebration before popping out another carbon unit for the global slave state machine.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:05 | 3443097 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

You can't feed your family because zoning says you can't have a garden.

In some cities even rainwater is taxed. In many SW cities, e.g., in Arizona, it is illegal to collect rainwater.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:16 | 3443118 WillyGroper
WillyGroper's picture

Watching live java weather as this last front went thru, you could see what was not doppler popping up on the border of AL & GA. Notice the path of the severe weather. Want water? You'll pay dearly one way or the other.

 

http://sincedutch.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/392013-using-frequency-to-per...

http://sincedutch.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/introduction-aquiess-2012.pdf

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:32 | 3442070 Catullus
Catullus's picture

The fees issue is an interesting take. Some of these people can't get assistance because it's immediately confiscated? Seems likely.

I tend to think the beuaurcratic state is pretty cold and merciless.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:33 | 3442071 adr
adr's picture

The first ting that came to mind like other here was Demolition Man.

BUT YOU HAVE TO FIND THE SILVER LINING!!!

Absolutely bullish for Yum Brands, BECAUSE IN THE FUTURE ALL RESTAURANTS ARE TACO BELL!!!

Just think about the wealth effect there, bitchez.

 

----

Of course all the Mole People may have just watched Die Hard 3 too many times. Perhaps that is where all the gold went.

----

But in all seriousness, it is insane that this doesn't make the news daily. Hoovervilles were palaces compared to the life of some today. Obama's America. There might be light at the end of the tunnel. I heard a few black guys talking about how Obama is nothing but a house nigger.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:41 | 3442390 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

At least in the Grapes of Wrath you had California to go to.  

Where do we go now?  North Dakota?  No thanks.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:41 | 3442398 GeezerGeek
GeezerGeek's picture

Obama and the rest of the Progressives continue to push for amnesty for illegals, under the guise of immigration reform. [It worked so well when Reagan signed on we need to try it again.]

Meanwhile, some members of the US Civil Rights Commission think it would be bad for blacks, er, African Americans (Teresa Heinz-Kerry?). http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/04/11/US-Civil-Rights-Commission-members-Mass-amnesty-likely-to-disproportionately-harm-American-blacks

Obama may be nothing but a house nigger, but at least the oreo is their house nigger. Blacks will continue to support him and other progressives in overwhelming numbers, thus proving they're more concerned with the overall well-being of the collective than with personal circumstances. As long, that is, as the EBT cards get refilled, abortions are free, and Obamaphones are available. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:23 | 3443116 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

The CRC is absolutely right--and the evidence is there to back up their claims. After Katrina, there were many unemployed black men who were eager to work as labor in the rebuilding effort. They watched from the side of the road, astonished, as busload after busload of cheap illegal alien labor was driven in to New Orleans taking the lion's share of those construction jobs. I forget who broke this story, I think it was HufPo. It's also worth noting that the patron saint of La Raza, Caesar Chavez, was vehemently against illegal immigration  because even he could see that it hurt farm workers and drove down wages. It's not rocket science.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:34 | 3442079 duffelpud
duffelpud's picture

I've hired and fired two future tunnel dwellers in the last six months.  Make that hired and not had the opportunity to fire because they just decided they would rather sit at home taking prescription drugs for depression and smoking meth than work.  Each of them would work a couple of good weeks then get their first check.  The next Monday they would text me to say they were sick.  Then they would show up again in a day or two, but spend time on their cell phones during break shopping pharmacies for overlapping prescriptions.  This would continue for a few days and then, after another paycheck, the excuses would start again.  Pretty soon they didn't bother texting anymore.  The 26 year old moved back in with his parents after he got tossed from his grandparents house for 'mething up the place' and the 21 year old now just sits in his room all day at his mom's soon-to-be leased rental home popping pills and smoking.  No ambition, no drive, no responsibility. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 17:47 | 3443046 akak
akak's picture

Both sound like future presidential material.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:37 | 3442098 SmittyinLA
SmittyinLA's picture

Immigration has its priorities, as long as everything is OK they can still allow millions of foreigners to move in and push out and displace million of Americans

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:38 | 3442101 americanspirit
americanspirit's picture

America the beautiful has never been beautiful for huge numbers of Americans. I feel for all those people who have been made homeless and destitute by the actions of an uncaring state and an increasingly uncivil society, and I fully realize that my wife and I are not that far from living in the same circumstances. However anyone who is aware of the real history of America knows that at any given time a huge proportion of our people have lived lives of poverty, misery and homelessness. Have you ever spent real time in Appalachia? How about on almost any Native American 'reservation'. And of course, just take a peek into almost any nursing 'home' in the country if you want to see the results of abandonment, poverty, desperation and helplessness. Our 'Beautiful America' mythmakers have always been busy making happyface doodles for popular consumption, but the reality hasn't changed that much from the very first Colonial days until now, and for the most part the reality of America always has been and still is ugly, mean, and breathtakingly hypocritical.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:56 | 3442181 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

And what are you doing to make it better?

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:24 | 3442313 samsara
samsara's picture

I think he is growing his own food and trying not to be a drain on anyone else if I am not mistaken.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:31 | 3442331 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

His are Alinsky type arguments - "actions of an uncaring state and an increasingly uncivil society" - so I'm just going to take my ball and go home.  Coward.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:38 | 3442354 americanspirit
americanspirit's picture

A fair question ronaldawg. The answer is - everything I can. Just because I think the situation is hopeless doesn't mean that it isn't important to try and keep trying. Sometimes, rarely, even the most hopeless situation can be improved. And, old dawg, you really have no idea whether I am a coward or not, but it is clear that you are judgmental, in spite of your cute little cross signifying, no doubt, that you are some kind of believer in moral principles, etc.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:42 | 3442400 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

You are too stupid to understand what that cross means - so humor me - what does it mean?

Judgmental - Heh - look at your original rant.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:56 | 3442477 centerline
centerline's picture

Looks like a Knights Templar cross to me.  (just passing through and thought I would play along with the quiz - moving on, moving on).

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:31 | 3443160 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

OT...but didn't the Pope pull an MF Global and Corzine their ass? Wiped 'em out and stole the money in their trading accounts to reguild some chapel ceilings in the City of Nuts. Something like that. Stuff's been going on a long time folks.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:05 | 3442513 GeezerGeek
GeezerGeek's picture

You've described the history of humanity, not simply the America, going on about powerty, desperation, etc.

And yet, for hundreds of years, foreigners left their homelands and came to America to pursue happiness - initially the opportunity to worship God as they saw fit - and economic success. Very few went back to where they came from. America was different before all the multiculturalism, atheism and other disfunctionality became prevalent. Multiculturalism may be fine for music or food, but society suffers when it is tried. Think Belgium, Ireland, Rwanda, Sri Lanka...Atheism leads to the uncaring state and uncivil society, because the Darwin fallacy of "survival of the fittest" engenders selfish, cutthroat self-interest, not cooperation for mutual benefit. Look at all those benevolent progressive regimes: Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Communist China, Cambodia under Pol Pot, North Korea, Cuba...true bastions of caring for the poor. 

As for those Indian reservations, consider those a foretaste of life under Progressivism: An approved oligarchy ruling over essentially powerless and hopeless population, backed by the full faith and firepower of the USSA. American Indians were't all that much better before Europeans arrived, fighting with each other, elslaving one another, ravaging the environment...in other words, acting like humanity just about anywhere in the world. At least the US didn't indulge in complete eradication of the earlier residents, which often happened as part of the waves of mass migrations that swept across Eurasia.

Sorry, but America, while far from perfect, did more to advance the human condition than any other sizeable country I can think of. Where else did people have the economic mobility seen here? I guess we just read different history books, or maybe I see a glass half full while you see one nearly empty.

 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:14 | 3442568 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

Thank you - I was setting him up for my rant which was along those lines - you said it beautifully though.  Mine would have been a little more radical mentioning pioneer spirit and manifest destiny.

It is the meaning of my avatar if anyone cares....

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 22:02 | 3443777 americanspirit
americanspirit's picture

Pioneer spirit and manifest destiny - what silly racist sophistry - nobody in fact cares about such bullshit. You are a lonely ranter - no, wait, in fact you are not lonely at all. A whole army of pathetic losers are on your side. Your naught templar cross is actually completely appropriate.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 23:06 | 3443929 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

You proved my point about being judgmental.  Thanks. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 17:32 | 3443005 nobita
nobita's picture

Im from Sweden which I think is the least religious country in the world and I can tell you there is no better place in the world to be poor.

All the benefits, free quality schooling and quality healthcare is, off course, financed by taxes from the productive class.

High taxes sucks obviously but so does having tunnelpeople. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:26 | 3443155 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

Ah - Sweden - with a population less than Ohio or 1/35th of the population of the United States.

Sweden also has a Muslim time bomb waiting to go off. 

Socialism combined with unfettered immigration is a recipie for disaster.  You may have it good now because you THINK you got past the housing bubble, and the ballooning debt crisis but you will eventually run out of other people's money.

Enjoy.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:39 | 3442108 kevinearick
kevinearick's picture

World Bank McNamara’s Legacy: A Global Wrecking Ball

Jump you f-in’ rats, jump:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/development/2013/04/lennar-loan-deal-china-bank-falls-apart-leaving-san-francisco-developments

 

Let’s see, who is Zarsion Holding Company and Tangshan Railway Vehicle Company…

“The GAO could not assess whether the [California High-Speed Rail] authority’s projected costs are feasible but said that the California agency is following most of the government’s best practices in making its predictions.”

So long as you follow the process of feudalism, with majority consent, who cares what the numbers are. We can always print more money…and find the economic slave labor to pay for it later. Just don’t be surprised when you are left with a crackhead at the helm, because that is the only joker stupid enough to sail with a ship of fools. It’s 9:30am; F- the children; where’s your cocaine Machiavelli?

If the Admirals want to work for Kissinger and those a-s in Europe, we’ll build a new Navy, and they can take their scumbag union leaders down with them on the ship they built for the purpose. Funny, how temporary employment comes and goes, through labor arbitrage volatility, called free trade, and real estate price inflation, capital subsidy, soars upward on a sea of debt, until the system crashes, when the participants “couldn’t see it, the iceberg, coming.” The United States is no exception.

Yes, it’s your body and you can do with it as you please, but keep it away from my kids. I don’t want anything of yours crawling on them. Don’t evacuate the city and expect a warm, fuzzy welcome elsewhere. Empires are one-way rides. Careful, when you allow capital to define what labor is and is not. The majority does not have an equal right to the fruit of my labor, but it is welcome to take by it force anyway, and see what happens.

That was quite the opening act on Neptune Ave to begin the show, but it’s not turning out quite the way Flag expected. N-E-P-T-U-N-E. Careful when you cross that line…

 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:40 | 3442110 De minimus
De minimus's picture

The Rise of The Machine

The corporatist machine or the Marxist machine, in the end they will leave us and our children at their sole discretion and mercies. Better not to be there, if history is any gage but then they don't teach history anymore, only Marx and sub-variants are taught.

Garbage in garbage out and the only beneficiaries are those standing atop the grates, and of course their bosses, making sure that no escape occurs.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:34 | 3443176 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

I think it was Terrence McKenna who said, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, that the same flaws and weaknesses that brought down communism lay in wait to bring down Capitalism. He referred to them as "Ugly Twin Sisters."

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:41 | 3442123 waterhorse
waterhorse's picture

"Deep beneath Vegas’s glittering lights lies a sinister labyrinth inhabited by poisonous spiders."

What kind of poisonous spiders?

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:45 | 3442137 waterhorse
waterhorse's picture

"Alabama charges a 30 percent collection fee, for instance, while Florida allows private debt collectors to add a 40 percent surcharge on the original debt. Some Florida counties also use so-called collection courts, where debtors can be jailed but have no right to a public defender."

And I thought the banksters were bad...the bottomfeeding debt collectors' lobbyists have captured Florida and Alabama.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:39 | 3442743 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

Three words:  Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:35 | 3443188 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

Yes but a C7 will cost you $2,000-3,000 in most places. And most people who fall on hard times don't have the money to excavate their financial overburden. I don't know any lawyers doing C7s pro bono. It's cash on the nail...up front.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 20:20 | 3443454 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

BS - it will only cost you if you hire a lawyer which is unnecessary.

If you are indigent they waive the filing fee.  You have numerous attempts to get the paper work right - it is pretty easy.

I could talk someone over the phone to do the paperwork in less than 30 minutes.  Easier than doing taxes.

Only the blood sucking legal bar wants you to think you will need a lawyer to do this.

There are only two times you have to appear before the trustee - the initial hearing and the meeting of creditors.   The trustee is a lawyer sitting in a room by themselves. 

You also have to take a phoney counseling session.

Also in the 9th Circuit, if you happen to leave a debt off your schedule in a no-asset Chapter 7 bankruptcy, it is automatically discharged after the final discharge date.  Unless you are committing fraud this procedure it very easy.  You can get credit in two-three months but cannot file bankruptcy again for another 7 years after that.

I think the article is conflating court ordered criminal/child custody payments with run-of-the-mill credit debt like car loans and credit cards.  I can see where they would put in you jail for not paying a criminal fine (not dischargeable in bankruptcy), but for auto loans?  Pleeaseeeeeee....

In fact, if you want to get a creditor off your back, just tell them you have filed bankruptcy - you don't have to answer any questions after that.  They'll ask you what court etc., but you don't have to answer.  Puts them in a tough spot.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 23:34 | 3443975 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

As Stan on South Park would say: "I learned something today."

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 19:14 | 3443289 Parrotile
Parrotile's picture

An important revenue stream to ensure the continuing payment of generous salaries and pensions to "the well connected".

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:48 | 3442151 rsnoble
rsnoble's picture

I mentioned this earlier.  Instead of leaving them alone they'll kick them out.  Now they'll be out in the open, freezing, and going to homeless shelters that have no room or food.  You can be homeless, but not in this city. LMAO.

 

And just think.........now they want our guns with a bunch of zombies on the loose.

Fuck the US gov't.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:52 | 3442164 F. Bastiat
F. Bastiat's picture

Well, welcome to communism.

A lot of idiots voted for it.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:27 | 3442325 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

No, it's FEUDALISM.  Communism eliminates this particular problem -- no matter what other ones it creates.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:46 | 3442428 F. Bastiat
F. Bastiat's picture

Communism is serfdom, silly.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:40 | 3443199 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

I say corporatism, but one person poeTAYtoe is another's poeTAHtoe.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 14:55 | 3442172 Hannibal
Hannibal's picture

Pick any topic and the USofA is NUMBER ONE.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:26 | 3442315 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

Alex, I'll take WMD's for $1 Trillion.  No, wait, I'll double-down with my Trillion-Dollar coin.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:12 | 3442557 GeezerGeek
GeezerGeek's picture

Top soccer players? Top Formula 1 drivers? Top WRC drivers? Top number of empty new cities? None of them.

Top number of clueless voters? We're number one! We're number one! We're number one!

 

 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:42 | 3443214 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

Smug self-satisfaction.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:01 | 3442219 JLee2027
JLee2027's picture

It was nice of the cops to evict people from the "unsafe" tunnel and back into the "safe" street with no light or shelter.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:20 | 3442289 The Dancer
The Dancer's picture

I wonder if those cute little mini tanks will fit nicely in the tunnels...you know..to kinda' survey the area...and maybe do a little target practicing on hobos or something....got to keep those government workers busy, ya' know...

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:43 | 3443219 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

See predictive programming in Oblivion. They got the tunnel problem sorted.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:23 | 3442305 hannah
hannah's picture

i bet every single one of these people voted for obama/democrates. not that the repubs wouldnt have done the same bailouts if in power but no one is blaming obama....so go live in the sewers and have a nice day.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:32 | 3442340 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

Why can't I live in a tunnel if I want to?  What happened to freedom - why is Gummit help "FORCED" on these people?

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 23:40 | 3443228 The Second Rule
The Second Rule's picture

This is going to get a little quasi-religious, but if you're amenable to a gnostic interpretation...Satan, a.k.a the Demiurge, is opposed to free will and freedom in general. In one of the great gnostic texts of the last 100 years, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, The Judge (an archetypal Satanic character) clearly states his disdain for freedom and how much he despises any free being by declaring "I'd have them all put in zoos." Now in this specific instance he was talking about birds, but one clearly understands he was referring to all sentient beings, especially humans. These dark forces, perhaps led by one supreme overlord of darkness, have gradually and inelluctably stolen every basic human freedom, leaving people more enslaved with fewer and fewer options. Some people call this the NWO, some call it the Elite, or Illuminati. Some give it a name of their own devising. The truth is, nobody really knows what it is or who it is, or even what its real agenda is. All we really know is that it's a willful, destructive, extremely intelligent force bent on total control.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:27 | 3442326 syntaxterror
syntaxterror's picture

Can we get them some Bloomberg terminals down there? Surely they can surf the liquidity wave to prosperity too, no?

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:31 | 3442334 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

      "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."  Matthew 5:5 

  If those people are able to stay off the grid and can feed/shelter/cloth themselves they are 10 steps ahead of 99% of us.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:39 | 3442385 Peter Pan
Peter Pan's picture

You are right and if nothing else the plight of these people shows us two things. The uselessness of government but also the ability of people to survive without government.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 17:24 | 3442971 Temporalist
Temporalist's picture

Look how well crafted those tunnels are with their arch design.  That wasn't an idiot that dug those tunnels.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:30 | 3442338 aerojet
aerojet's picture

Bane.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:31 | 3442343 Peter Pan
Peter Pan's picture

The ultimate irony might be for the USA might be bombed by North Korea and the tunnel people are the only survivors.

Beware America, fate has a habit of twisting things.

The dark tunnels that are to be found in the hearts of politicians and bankers are far worse than the tunnels these people live in.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:33 | 3442357 pine_marten
pine_marten's picture

Let them eat Obama Care..........

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:40 | 3442393 Cman5000
Cman5000's picture

 Morlocks

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:46 | 3442422 Shizzmoney
Shizzmoney's picture
Your LOL of the Day (brought to you by Goldman Sachs): Obama Vowed Never To Cut Social Security Cost-Of-Living Before Chained CPI Move (video)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/obama-chained-cpi_n_3063841.htm...

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:28 | 3443158 WillyGroper
WillyGroper's picture

"Not alot of smoke & mirrors here".

(just a little)

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:46 | 3442431 Bahamas
Bahamas's picture

"Teleprompter in Chief":

..And all of you lucky citizens and good Americans.... you are having a chance to dwell in these superb, luxurious tunnels, know that it is the Government that build that for you. Those tunnels would't be there were not an industrious and caring Government to look after you. Therefore, be proud and happy to call yourself Americans" !

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:50 | 3442442 knicks3005
knicks3005's picture

The Wealth Gap is going to continue to widen and widen. The new "middle class" will be people making over 100k.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 15:50 | 3442450 BlackVoid
BlackVoid's picture

Peak Net Oil Exports.

We are past it. The lifestyle you have ordered is out of stock.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:04 | 3442501 Mad Muppet
Mad Muppet's picture

Today a troglodite gave me a stock tip...is it time to get out?

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:09 | 3442532 crzyhun
crzyhun's picture

C'mon, IT IS all BUSH'S fault did you not get the talking points!!! (Sarc)

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:13 | 3442556 besnook
besnook's picture

i wonder if the posters bashing obama bashed shrub or will bash the next potus(and congress).

if you didn't or don't bash the entire political structure and almost all the participants at the federal level you are stuck on stupid if you think one president did this or one party did this.....and you are a large part of the problem.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:22 | 3442614 GeezerGeek
GeezerGeek's picture

I bash Obama frequently. I also bash Bush, because of his "compassionate collectivism", the Patriot Act, DHS, and on and on. I bashed Nixon for ditching gold and for his wage and price controls, Jimmy Carter for endless reasons, Reagan for caving to the Democrats on spending controls and increased SS taxes, Bush 1 for 'read my lips, no new taxes' and being generally clueless, Clinton for Hillarycare, being a general scumbag, etc. The reasons for bashing them all are too numerous to list. And I've limited my list to presidents for whom I was eligible to vote. In other words, my entire adult life has been spent wishing we had more choices. Or any real choice at all.

Democrat politicians apparently exist to enslave us. Republican establishment politicians mostly exist to prevent conservates from being elected to anything. Call them Plan B, like the abortifactant.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 20:19 | 3443499 strayaway
strayaway's picture

Did so when it was relevant. Agreed, the leadership of both parties each should bear blame. Right now, however, it makes more sense to counter those making policy rather than lamenting bad things, Wilson, Roosevelt, or Bush did. This week, the agenda is to provide cheap labor for the 1% and disarm the middle class. Bush supported or supports both initiatives but writing letters to Bush won't change anything. He can no longer be impeached. Caveat: Democrats are exempt from such realities and can still blame Bush for the economy.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 20:22 | 3443507 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

BUSH - the pre-socializer!

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 20:27 | 3443515 strayaway
strayaway's picture

double posted 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:15 | 3442567 AndrewJackson
AndrewJackson's picture

Makes  me feel really good about all the housing inventory that the tbtf banks are sitting on with noone utilizing them. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:38 | 3442733 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Someone needs to send tunnel missionaries to teach the children and parents how to get Government benefits and work the system because it sho do work if ya work it.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:45 | 3442792 fogcity1981
fogcity1981's picture

"Mercy and compassion are in very short supply"

Have you stopped by a church lately?  ...thought not. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 16:59 | 3442862 Helvetico
Helvetico's picture

Look, you fucking idiots, there are two main reasons for the lack of jobs:

1) Offshoring. It's supported by both parties, so stop blaming it on just the Dems. Republicans love it, too.

2) Technological innovation. Machines and computers make humans obsolete.

No free market solution will ever address either of these issues, since free market/Randian/Libertarian bullshit all boils down to this: gimme money, and fuck the other guy.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 17:39 | 3443024 ronaldawg
ronaldawg's picture

Bullshit - Free market solution is the answer - and we haven't tried it yet - we have a whole lot of crony-capitalism and redistribution but we are not doing what the founding fathers envisioned.

Life is not supposed to be a fairy tale with a feather bed pension.  Life is hard.  We have to struggle to survive.  Life is not "fair" - if you do not do the work, you starve - that is essence of being human.

Any type of gummit intervention is inefficient - only the free market can distribute limited resources in an effective manner.  This is what we have gotten away from. 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 19:33 | 3443345 Parrotile
Parrotile's picture

Depends on "connections" doesn't it. For "The Favoured Few" life certainly IS your bed of roses - but "the Invisible People" whose daily activities make the World as you know it possible are not quite as "equal" as their favoured cousins.

In the eras of true innovation, it was the Engineers and Scientists who really were household names - Edison, Tesla, Morse, Lodge, Marconi; Industrial Revolution - Brunel, Stephenson, Trevithick. All "doers" and all changed the way we live permanently, and for the better.

Nowadays: look who are the "Household Names" and look what they do for a living.

And the vast "First World" majority of school-age kids look up to these "idols" as role models.

Think about it. Think also about the inevitable consequences of the current "fashionable" mindset of the majority.

Add in the extra Global problems arising from Fukushima (and other future disasters of this ilk - and they WILL happen), then guesstimate our survival chances for just one more century.

Not exactly good are they . . . . .

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 23:36 | 3443980 Miffed Microbio...
Miffed Microbiologist's picture

This is very true Parrotile. Observing the " Favoured Few's" children was an interesting experience for my eldest. She spent a year in Shanghai in business school and was shocked at the depravity. These were the children of the east coast elite who came not to study but to have non stop parties for, to them, this was an opportunity to run wild without the constraints of home. After the endless stream of prostitutes brought into the dorm, non stop drinking and loud parties she finally complained. The response from the elitist spawn was to all masterbate on her door. She managed to get moved to the Chinese floor ( the dean was shocked she wanted to, never had an American do that before). There it was dead quiet and the students spent all their waking hours diligently studying. For a kid from a working middle class family this was an interesting experience since she was nervous to be with these people who she felt would " out class" her in wealth and privilege.

Miffed;-)

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 17:20 | 3442963 unnamed enemy
unnamed enemy's picture

in the old days, when the roman senators invented the system, one of them jumped up and said: but what about the poor?

they all looked at eachother and laughed: the poor? fuck the poor.

 

 

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:12 | 3443109 Offthebeach
Offthebeach's picture

If it wasn't for Uncle Ben and sub-prime auto loan( no job, no credit, pay-by-the-week), I wouldn't have my home, a 1993 Dodge work van down by the river. Way better then the old Ford Futura we were living in.

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:34 | 3443185 Bobportlandor
Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:18 | 3443128 Diamond Jim
Diamond Jim's picture

is this the beginning of the "Morlocks" ???

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:38 | 3443194 Henry Hub
Henry Hub's picture

‘At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge,’ said the gentleman, taking up a pen, ‘it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.’

‘Are there no prisons?’ asked Scrooge.

‘Plenty of prisons,’ said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.

‘And the Union workhouses.’ demanded Scrooge. ‘Are they still in operation?’

‘They are. Still,’ returned the gentleman,’ I wish I could say they were not.’

‘The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?’ said Scrooge.

‘Both very busy, sir.’

‘Oh. I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,’ said Scrooge. ‘I’m very glad to hear it.’'

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 19:41 | 3443371 Parrotile
Parrotile's picture

And thereby by the Grace of God, goeth us all . . . . . .

No "connections"?, Run out of luck? Workplace injury (Corp. conveniently bankrupt) so "no longer perfect" as a potential employee?

"Here, take this (cyanide) pill: "We" have "decided" this is the most "humane" means of solving your dilemma".

(I suspect the reality would be a far "less damaging" strategy for elimination - with the "market" for hyman tissue always expanding, even the "oldies" may have a significant "resale value" as a source of spare parts - corneas, bone, even skin!

Fri, 04/12/2013 - 18:41 | 3443213 DaveA
DaveA's picture

My wife said that if I'm so worried about an economic collapse, I should go out in the forest, cut down trees, build a log cabin, plant a vegetable garden, breed rabbits, etc.  People in her native Russia do this all the time.

I explained that you can't do that in America.  Every square inch of the Lower 48 either belongs to someone, or it's locked up in some sort of conservation trust.  My sister couldn't even camp out one night in a public forest before a cop came and told her to leave.

And forget about buying land.  It's either wildly overpriced (and overtaxed) or it's an inaccessible back lot where you're not allowed to build anything.

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