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Kunstler: There Are Only 2 Choices For The Masses - "Doomer" Or "Wisher"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by James H. Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

America takes pause on a big holiday weekend requiring little in the way of real devotions beyond the barbeque deck with two profoundly stupid movie entertainments that epitomize our estrangement from the troubles of the present day.

First there’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which depicts the collapse of civilization as a monster car rally. They managed to get it exactly wrong. The present is the monster car show. Houston. Los Angeles. New Jersey, Beijing, Mumbai, etc. In the future, there will be no cars, gasoline-powered, electric, driverless, or otherwise. Mad Max: Fury Road is actually a perverse exercise in nostalgia, as if we’re going to miss being a nation of savages in the driver’s seat, acting out an endless and pointless competition for our little place on the highway.

The other holiday blockbuster is Disney’s Tomorrowland, another exercise in nostalgia for the present, where the idealized human life is a matrix of phone apps, robots, and holograms. Of course, anybody who had been to Disneyland back in the day remembers the old Tomorrowland installation, which eventually had to be dismantled because its vision of the future had become such a joke — starting with the idea that the human project’s most pressing task was space travel. Now, at this late date, the monster Disney corporation — a truly evil empire — sees that more money can be winkled out of the sore-beset public by persuading them that techno-utopia is at hand, if only we click our heels hard enough.

Another theme running through both films is the idea that girls can be what boys used to be, that it’s “their turn” to be masters-of-the-universe, that men are past their sell-by date and only exist to defile and humiliate females. That this message is really only a mendacious effort to rake in more money by enlarging the teen “audience share” for the reigning wishful fantasy du jour is surely lost on the culture commentators, who are so busy these days celebrating the triumph and wonder of transgender life.

The reviewers are weighing these two movies on the popular pessimism / optimism scale. These are the only choices for the masses: whether to be a “doomer” or a “wisher.” Both positions are cartoon world-views that don’t provide much guidance for continuing the project of civilization, in case anyone is actually interested in that. It’s either rampaging id or the illusion of supernatural control, take your pick. I find both stances revolting.

Anyway, it’s interesting that the real Fury Road of the right now runs from Syria into Iraq starring ISIS. There is a growing sentiment in the news media (including the web, of course) of a sickening déjà vu with these developments. The old familiar talk of air strikes and ground troops infects the wifi transmissions. Maybe we should think about sending Charlize Theron over there with a few vestigial male sidekicks to load her assault rifle. How else to git’er done? Nobody knows.

Memorial Day is a dreary moment to have to face this onrushing calamity of rocket-propelled medievalism rampant — all those poor American soldiers blown up and mangled the past twelve years.  It’s also interesting that the news media is totally out-of-touch with the biggest prize on the great gameboard: Saudi Arabia. You think ISIS overrunning Iraq is bad news? Wait until the ordnance starts flying around Riyadh. Notice, too, that there’s no news coming out of Yemen on the base of the Arabian peninsula, a failed state with a population nearly equal to its neighbor. If we have any idea what’s going on there — and surely the Pentagon and NSA do — then it’s not for popular consumption.

This is ironic because if the trouble happens to spread into Saudi Arabia — and I don’t see how it will not — then we’ll find out in a New York minute how America’s future is not about monster trucks, cars, dirt bikes, holograms, phone apps, and all the other ridiculous preoccupations of the moment.

 

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Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:33 | 6129544 This is it
This is it's picture

Feeling bored on a Monday? Let's go catch a movie.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:48 | 6129599 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Read Atlas Shrugged. It's the dystopian novel with a happy ending.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:56 | 6129626 WhyDoesItHurtWh...
WhyDoesItHurtWhen iPee's picture

Sounds like the old saying "shit in one hand or wish in the other and see wich one fills up faster".  So the Doomer has shit in his hand already and the Wisher also has shit in their hand but is too ignorant to see it.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:06 | 6129647 Captain Debtcrash
Captain Debtcrash's picture

There is simply going to be a monetary shift like in 1913, ’33, ’45, or 71, and this time those who trusted unsustainable debt instruments will likely lose out.  There will be pain, worse for some than others, but I am confident the first world will not fall into third world status.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:15 | 6129704 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

There's falling into third world status, and then there's importing it.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:33 | 6129771 Future Jim
Future Jim's picture

There are more than two choices.

Rule of Market – The Next Leap Forward 

History began with the Rule of Man, which is where those who make the law are not accountable to those under the law, and those who make the law are above the law. The law is thus likely to be inefficient, subjective, arbitrary, and applied unequally. Government under the Rule of Man is illegitimate because people only support it under duress, and no competing law is allowed. Government under the Rule of Man is also a monopoly on the right to initiate force or fraud within a geographical boundary.

A great leap forward from the Rule of Man was the Rule of Law, which is where those who make the law are accountable to those under the law, and no man is above the law. Unfortunately, government under the Rule of Law is still not legitimate because most people support it only under duress, and no competing law is allowed. Like under the Rule of Man, government under the Rule of Law has always been a monopoly on the right to initiate force or fraud within a given geographical boundary. These remaining drawbacks with the Rule of Law are harmful in their own right, but they are also the seeds of its inevitable regression back to the Rule of Man – unless we evolve further.

The next great leap forward will be the Rule of Market, which is where the law is a product like any other. An individual could produce his own law, or choose one of the products produced by others, or choose no such product at all. The market would be the judge. Government under the Rule of Market would allow competition, and few, if any, would purchase law that claimed the right to initiate force or fraud against them.

In the Rule of Market, the law is voluntary – just like any other product. In fact, everything is voluntary. Even money is just a product like any other.

Read the rest at Rule of Market – The Next Leap Forward

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:44 | 6129814 Headbanger
Headbanger's picture

Yeah right, .. What you said there...

Moar like the Rule of the Monster Comet is what's on the way.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:21 | 6129953 Anusocracy
Anusocracy's picture

A movie definitely worth seeing is Ex Machina.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 21:39 | 6131309 w a l k - a w a y
w a l k - a w a y's picture

Ex Machina was interesting, with a great ending

The Wachowskis latest film, Jupiter Ascending, is perhaps closer to reality. If you can get past all the fighting, battle scenes and special effects, it portrays something that to my knowledge is a first for a Hollywood film -- Earth being revealed to be a farm in which human beings are bred for harvest.

I've made a post with scenes from the film.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:24 | 6129963 AIIB
AIIB's picture

Kuntsler, there are only 2 choices:

 

- another helping of gefilte & babka

- or another bottle of Mogen David

 

If, it were ME?... I'd take the latter

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 19:16 | 6130921 Whoa Dammit
Whoa Dammit's picture

Saw Mad Max Fury Road today. Spoiler Alert: Everyone drives one direction shooting each other and blowing up vehicles. Then they turn around and drive back in the direction from whence they came doing the exact same thing. 

Wow what a great movie./s

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:45 | 6130232 Nostradumbass
Nostradumbass's picture

I would suggest that the ultimate rule would simply be the golden rule. Living by this most uncomplicated and natural rule could suffice in maintaining a peaceful and moral world of humans... if all humans would apply it. 

http://www.iep.utm.edu/goldrule/

 

 

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 16:12 | 6130349 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

What is necessary is that most humans adhere to the recognition of natural rights while voluntarily organizing a defense against those who would do harm. The consent of the roughly 5% of bad actors is not needed for the the roughly 95% of decent folks to live in peace and prosperity

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 16:07 | 6130330 rejected
rejected's picture

Nice, short and explains it all.

kudos!

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:06 | 6129668 Tasty Sandwich
Tasty Sandwich's picture

It can't happen here.  This is the richest, most powerful nation the world has ever known.

Optimism bias

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:13 | 6129693 two hoots
two hoots's picture

We have full faith and credit of the United States of America to back us up and if that fails we have the protection of CDS's.  We are secure.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:17 | 6129712 mrdenis
mrdenis's picture

We're special ....Obama told us so .....

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 16:05 | 6130324 rejected
rejected's picture

Noooooo, He said "exceptional".

And if you think about it real real hard you will see he was correct.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:59 | 6129862 TheFourthStooge-ing
TheFourthStooge-ing's picture

Cartoon propagandists, cartoon power, caricature country.

US citizenism stands defiantly, laughs, and disappears...

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 17:35 | 6130638 r00t61
r00t61's picture

Where is AnAnonymous lately?

Perhaps he got a promotion to troll more reputable sites.

He was annoying for sure, but I did enjoy his patented use of the term US citizenism.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 18:00 | 6130691 TheFourthStooge-ing
TheFourthStooge-ing's picture

Yes, the quality of trolls grazing at ZH has declined substantially.

As much as I enjoyed the verbal sparring with him, I must admit that when he was right he could come up with some rather thought provoking observations.

As annoying as he could be, I think AnAnonymous may be one of those rare, gifted individuals who is 3 or 4 years ahead of his time.

Somehow that is very something.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:00 | 6129644 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Not good.  I built my own Mad Max car.  Sucks I'm apparently not going to get to use it.  Or my dingo.

I suspect the sawed-off double barrel will still be a handy thing to have regardless.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:58 | 6129636 BullyBearish
BullyBearish's picture

Hey, how about shopping?

http://www.nailgundepot.com/

 

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:39 | 6129769 MonetaryApostate
MonetaryApostate's picture

You know there is an app that will allow you to make a cool little pneumatic swivel & trigger puller that can run off a laptop that shoots anything that moves....

https://youtu.be/RxBa5bQfTGc

 

Go thee out and build a NGS (Nail Gun Sentry)

https://youtu.be/5M0d3LCy3YQ

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:33 | 6129545 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

I would like 'Tommorowland' but will probably get 'Mad Max' for my new lifestyle.....

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:33 | 6129546 Arnold
Arnold's picture

I see what you did there.

Topping this with an ISIS nuke story.

Bastards.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:33 | 6129547 Budnacho
Budnacho's picture

THe SECOND Saudi has problems they cannot control...we will go in.

 

Just like it was planned.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:00 | 6129641 Urban Redneck
Urban Redneck's picture

Who is "we" kemosabe?

 

Xi Jinping might ask the same question...

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 16:01 | 6130305 rejected
rejected's picture

"We" are those that line up like good little sheep with shoes in hand staring down as to not enrage their masters at airports allowing their wives and children to be assaulted. 

The same "we" that opens what bags they're allowed to have and consent to searches at major sporting events.

That "We"

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 17:53 | 6130672 BuddyEffed
BuddyEffed's picture

For those of us blessed with long term memories, going in there (Saudi) is not going to be easy for anyone, as I recall seeing an article that the Saudi's had booby trapped their oil infrastructure to make sure that they control it and can hold it hostage or scorch earth if they deem fit.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:35 | 6129551 CPL
CPL's picture

There's option 3.  People that work just wait for the Doomers and wishers to finish themselves off.  They've already put themselves into a Hobbesian choice scenario.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:39 | 6129561 Arnold
Arnold's picture

I choose Frodo.

 

What....................

Hobbesian choise?

Bastards again.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:01 | 6129869 MsCreant
MsCreant's picture

I getses its, my precious.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:02 | 6129877 TheFourthStooge-ing
TheFourthStooge-ing's picture

The optimist learns English.

The pessimist learns Chinese.

The realist exploring the device of the rifle.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:41 | 6129804 Clarabell
Clarabell's picture

That should be Hobson's choice. Different guy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobson%27s_choice

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:44 | 6129586 unionbroker
unionbroker's picture

there is a punchline to this joke but i'm afraid that when we see it we won't think it is funny

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:32 | 6129768 Gazooks
Gazooks's picture

..but, ironically..

 

 

..they all, to a man, burned in deepest dark hell for ever and ever after

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:48 | 6129601 FreeShitter
FreeShitter's picture

There is a third choice......leave the dying shithole.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:22 | 6130175 Hongcha
Hongcha's picture

"Abandon the creeping meatball!"

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 19:00 | 6130859 boattrash
boattrash's picture

I say there's a third option, the ones who thrive,
 or at least get their kicks while the whole fuckin mass
goes up in flames.
The optimist sees the glass as half full.
The pessimist sees the glass as half empty.
The realist sees the glass as twice as fuckin big as it needs to be...

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:50 | 6129608 Gringo Viejo
Gringo Viejo's picture

If you read Cuntsler on a regular basis (I used to), you'll find he's a consistently depressed.

And he's made a living from it.

America! What a Country!

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:01 | 6129652 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

He's a voter, so cognitive-dissonance induced depression is a given.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:09 | 6129681 two hoots
two hoots's picture

sadly, funny.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 12:55 | 6129621 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Write an F'n book why don't ya.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:02 | 6129639 Chuck Knoblauch
Chuck Knoblauch's picture

Become a Rebel with a cause.

Fight the collective mind.

Say NO.

And back that currency up with more than promises.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:01 | 6129650 YOU ARE DEMOCRACY
YOU ARE DEMOCRACY's picture

You have a choice of what movie to go watch, but not a choice on whether or not the Film Industry should be subsidized. If we cared about Democracy as much as we care about entertaining ourselves, the world would be a different place.

 

 

You Are Democracy.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:03 | 6129658 Chuck Knoblauch
Chuck Knoblauch's picture

The Pentagon should be listed in the credits for their support.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:45 | 6130041 Anusocracy
Anusocracy's picture

Democracy is where the lesser control freaks get their fix as well as the alpha control freaks.

That way the dupes can pretend to be the plantation owners.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:53 | 6130264 Real Estate Geek
Real Estate Geek's picture

And if we really knew what democracy means we'd start trying to recover the republic.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:07 | 6129667 two hoots
two hoots's picture

Kinda like the FED, many years, many billions, no positive results.  The new American paradigm.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:06 | 6129669 dogfish
dogfish's picture

Hey Kuntsler maybe if you vote Oblowme a third time it will get better.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:53 | 6130270 rejected
rejected's picture

Like voting really freaking matters.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:10 | 6129683 Consuelo
Consuelo's picture

"Lingerie - remember lingerie...?"

 

 

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:14 | 6129699 petaloka
petaloka's picture

STFU Cunt-sler you Zionist douchebag.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:36 | 6130019 falconflight
falconflight's picture

Of the Mud Tribe?

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:15 | 6129701 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

NO one seems to have noticed the historically important events going on during the Fog Of War since 2002: 

The steady and systematic of Ancient Art, Archeological Artifacts, Dwellings and Ruins. 

Mostly pre-Muslim and pre-Christian.  Which makes an archeological reconstruction of the ancient past virtually impossible, to determine what really happened in OT biblical times. 

This not only suits the psychopathic Wahhabists, but also the Talmudic Oded Yinon Zionists, as both are free to rewrite the past as they wish, and to frame the Arguments for a future ME.

Note that a People with a deleted Past, will have a future defined by ambitious,  ruthless operators, opportunists and sociopaths.  In fact, I'd go a step further and argue that...

What we are sing globally, is the concerted effort by NWO Globalists, to systematically weaken, erode, dilute, pollute, corrupt and destroy ALL hitherto human bonds of kinship, nationalism, and family.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:07 | 6129896 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

"Treaty of Westphalia" 1648

"That there shall be on the one side and the other a perpetual Oblivion, Amnesty, or Pardon of all that has been committed since the beginning of these Troubles... (memory of) Outrageous Actions, in Violences, Hostilitys, Damages and Expences, without any respect to Persons or Things, shall be entirely abolish'd in such a manner that all that might be demanded of, or pretended to, by each other on that behalf, shall be bury'd in eternal Oblivion."

Jubilee, bitches.  Its the only way out.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:48 | 6129826 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

IBID: Last sentence has a typo.  It should read: "What we are seeing globally..."

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:29 | 6129983 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

Divide and conquer.  And once you have conquered, keep 'em divided, to rule.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:55 | 6130277 Nostradumbass
Nostradumbass's picture

you know that you can return to your post and edit don't you? I do it consistently...

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:01 | 6129874 Mr. Frosty
Mr. Frosty's picture

+10

 

The complete destruction of organic, bottom-up community and it's replacement with synthetic, top-down collectivism.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:30 | 6130194 datura
datura's picture

"Dear people of Egypt, dont let them delete your tracks. Without history, you have no future." Vladimir Putin of Russia

That is why I know for sure that Putin is not part of the NWO, as some here tend to think. He has managed the most important thing: to restore the Russian history and pride in it. Unlike people in the West, Russians now have back their true identity, that stream of consciousness from the Mongol conquest, through the tzarist era, through WWII and Stalin till today. And they are now taught to proud of all of that, and to acept all of their history, both bad and good. And Putin even urged other nations to do the same. He said for example: "Indians are great people, but they are confused, they dont have identity. They should restore their history, values and traditions." I will never forget this sight: Half a million of Russians (only in Moscow, more millions in other places in Russia) marching with photos of their ancestors in the Immortal Regiment march. A clear powerful message to the world: "We Russians know, who we are and where we come from. We remember our ancestors and their sacrifices. We will never give up our country, traditions or history to anyone." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lynKea8pGlw

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 21:26 | 6130426 Things that go bump
Things that go bump's picture

Americans have little in the way of history and much of what there is is hidden from us and highly uncomplimentary. Even when I was in school I never heard about the robbery of property and internment of ethnic Japanese citizens in WWII or the systematic genocide of Native Americans after the Civil War. And speaking of the Civil War, most people now believe it was fought over slavery (as if the government of the United States of America would ever have considered that sufficient cause to go to war - where's the profit in that?), rather than over states rights and the economic oppression of the South by Northern manufacturing states. 

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 06:47 | 6131962 datura
datura's picture

that is a great pity, because Americans also have a great history, both bad and good, but you had some very great ancestors....the problem is not that you dont have history, the problem is that you are not taught that history and your history is being erased from American minds....How nice it would be, for example, if Americans knew that magnficent quote from their 5th president John Quincy Adams, which now seem almost like a prophecy: "America, in the assembly of nations, since her admission among them, has invariably, though often fruitlessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity. She has uniformly spoken among them, though often to heedless and often to disdainful ears, the language of equal liberty, equal justice, and equal rights. She has, in the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single exception, respected the inde-pendence of other nations, while asserting and maintaining her own. She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when the conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart. She has seen that probably for centuries to come, all the contests of that Aceldama, the European World, will be contests between inveterate power, and emerging right. Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will recommend the general cause, by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example. She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself, beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force. The frontlet upon her brows would no longer beam with the ineffable splendor of freedom and independence; but in its stead would soon be substituted an imperial diadem, flashing in false and tarnished lustre the murky radiance of dominion and power. She might become the dictatress of the world: she would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit." 

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 15:52 | 6133449 Things that go bump
Things that go bump's picture

We've lost our way.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:16 | 6129707 Missing_Link
Missing_Link's picture

What a dumb article.  Mad Max was a great movie and anyone moaning over inaccuracies in an obvious popcorn movie like that needs to get their head out of their ass.  Chill out and learn to enjoy great entertainment for what it is.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:16 | 6129709 MASTER OF UNIVERSE
MASTER OF UNIVERSE's picture

America's future is one of ever increasing diminished returns on investments due to malinvestment, outright fraudulent behaviour of government bureaucrats, and ignorance of basic accounting principles, and economic fundamentals. In brief, America has no future aside from all out war, and death, for a majority of citizens. Moreover, nuclear war will ensure America's complete annihilation in due course. Lastly, the Military Industrial Complex in the USA will eventually attack itself when the rank and file members figure out that the real enemy is the MIC, and the Banksters on Wall Street. And all this will manifest in 2015 so we don't have long to wait.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:41 | 6129803 STP
STP's picture

Sat on a bar stool, just the other day, talking to a young black man, who was very astute.  He just got out of the Army, as a Ranger, with three tours of Iraq under his belt.  I knew he had it figured out, when the word "Elite" dropped out of his mouth.  He was also an expert Chess player as well.  It was a very good conversation and of course, I told him to look up Zero Hedge, when he had a chance.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:19 | 6129719 stant
stant's picture

I suspect given the murmurs going around that Dempsy and friends have had enough . Might be getting things in order to shut down the clowns running this joint before the crash,And break up of the ussa. Lets see who goes missing next couple months or so

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:28 | 6129727 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

America the Beautiful.

- Land where the Narrative is missing,
- Where history is unknown,
- Where Government doesn't tell the truth,
- Where Lobby & Campaign Dollars inform Politicians
- Where Policy & Law are passed in Secrecy from the People

- Where Counter-Intelligence Operations against the People, KEEP the people in the dark about what policies are, why the govt makes it's decisions, and what those decision are

- Where the Government USES MILITARY TECHNIQUES & STRATEGIES against the Voters & All Citizens who Elect it
- Where Propaganda, Spin, Untruthfulness Dumbs down all Generations in Perpetuity
- Where Government spits on Logos, Pathos, and Ethos

- Where the Ruling Class doesn't give a Damn about the Truth or the People that Elect it and give it it's power...

Wait... No we the people are not needed any more for the Ruling Class to hold power and they don't need your bank deposits or spending power either.

- Where Political Coups are so numerous we can't count them all and the Impact on Economic, Political, and Philosophical Thought is so Terrible it makes the Nation Tremble on the verge of losing forever its Freedom, Equality, and Middle Class Power

America the Beautiful, What a Dream.

Brotherhood, Liberty, Freedom, Property, Equality, Simple Government, Unobtrusive Government, A Government that served the people not Wealthy Powers or Connected Business Entities.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:29 | 6129750 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Leave the US and get a spare gig overseas.

Works for me.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:29 | 6129754 Clarabell
Clarabell's picture

"Mad Max: Fury Road, which depicts the collapse of civilization as a monster car rally."

As H. L. Mencken said "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:38 | 6129793 VWAndy
VWAndy's picture

Only two choices?  Na. Third choice. Accountability. Fourth choice. The stall. Fifth choice stampeed the sheep. Sixth choice. Panic the tools. Lots of choices could lead to a lot of very different outcomes. Me thinks this guy is playin his book.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:45 | 6129817 Dre4dwolf
Dre4dwolf's picture

Might I present the third option

-Spectator.

 

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:07 | 6130121 Rusputin
Rusputin's picture

I think yes DreadWolf before, but not now, people are required to do their bit.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:49 | 6129828 Zen Master
Zen Master's picture

Isn't Mad Max Bane?

 

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 13:57 | 6129856 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

I don't know about others, but I have many more options than just 2.

.223 or 7.62? S & W or Glock? 10-series or 5160 steel guillotine blade? Maples or Liberties? Enfilade or defilade? Nitrogen or vacuum? Paper or plastic?

Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:51 | 6130262 MASTER OF UNIVERSE
MASTER OF UNIVERSE's picture

Don't go mental on us, eh, kchrisc. The pen is mightier than the sword. The mind is mightier than the language that purports to explain it. The Bible sez that if one lives by the gun one will die by the gun. Live by the mind and not by the gun. In brief, think before you actually decide to shoot because you might have questions instead of answers when you pull the trigger, eh. just sayin' is all.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 22:01 | 6131386 Who was that ma...
Who was that masked man's picture

You have two options, live or die.

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 04:20 | 6131878 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

One of those is NOT an option!

Wed, 05/27/2015 - 14:52 | 6136397 Who was that ma...
Who was that masked man's picture

Okay.  You have two options, eat shit or go blind.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:32 | 6129999 Who was that ma...
Who was that masked man's picture

Glad to see Kunstler got his mojo back.  His last piece, I forget now what it was even about, seemed a little soft and willowy

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 14:48 | 6130057 atomicwasted
atomicwasted's picture

This is pretty rich coming from ur-doomer Kunstler.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:04 | 6130110 Rusputin
Rusputin's picture

Nature has another stance... Extinction of a failed experiment, ie all humans.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:46 | 6130245 rejected
rejected's picture

Good summation.

There is no future for a nation of sellouts. Only misery and death.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 15:59 | 6130296 polo007
polo007's picture

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2013-09-22/who-sho...

Five years later, however, the power of the Federal Reserve is greater than ever before. Congressional dysfunction and partisan warfare have made the possibility of economic recovery through fiscal measures or other legislative initiatives remote; monetary policy and the Federal Reserve have become the last hope. The Fed has responded energetically with initiatives such as quantitative easing (buying bonds in large amounts to push down long-term interest rates), which was an unprecedented and massive exercise in policy innovation. As the financier Mohamed El-Erian observed in 2012, the Fed and other major central banks were "neck deep in extreme policy experimentation mode."

As a result, the two salient features of the economic crisis have been political gridlock and technocratic entrepreneurship. Compare this to the nation's response to last major economic crisis, the Great Depression. In those days, it was the political class that took the initiative, while the Federal Reserve took a secondary role. President Franklin D. Roosevelt himself set the government’s tone, working with Congress to pass a battery of legislative initiatives aimed at restoring confidence. "The country needs bold, persistent experimentation,” Roosevelt said. “Take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." Today, the same mantra applies -- but it applies to central bankers, not to politicians.

In that sense, the last few years have upended our understanding of the role of central bankers and the reason for central bank independence. Before the crisis, during the years when countries were beginning to take the idea of central bank autonomy more seriously, many people asked how it could be justified in a democratic society. The response from some advocates of central bank independence was straightforward. Banks had a simple goal -- price stability -- and well-established techniques for achieving that goal. They did not engage in much policy innovation and, above all, they were not in the business of picking winners and losers in the economy. In other words, the power that was being given to central banks was limited, so the threat to democratic principles was not substantial.

But the game has changed. The objectives of central bank policymaking are no longer so simple: for example, there is an active debate among central bankers about the relative importance of job creation and inflation control. At the same time, the techniques for achieving those goals are less certain. Finally, the Federal Reserve and other major central banks are now unambiguously in the business of picking economic winners and losers. Recent studies have highlighted the extent to which such central bank policies as quantitative easing have conferred big rewards on some groups while penalizing others. A 2012 study by the Bank of England conceded that the benefits of its quantitative easing program "have not been shared equally," with wealthy households benefiting disproportionately.

But the critical point is this: although the premises on which U.S. politicians and the public initially accepted the delegation of authority to independent central banks have been blown apart, that delegation persists. In practice, central bankers’ power has broadened, while legislative power has atrophied. And this is true in other countries as well. This is a troubling shift, and it has not gotten the attention it deserves. The people who advocated for central bank independence in the 1980s and 1990s had to make their case explicitly, since, in many countries, they were calling for legislative change. But the current shift has happened in an ad hoc way, under the pressure of the moment, without a compelling explanation of how it can be squared with democratic principles.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 16:16 | 6130369 Playtime's Over
Playtime's Over's picture

I like some stuff Kunstler says but but if he should be consistently AGAINST anything it should be the Home Ohh he voted for TWICE. So how pathetic and stupid is this sage?

 

 

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 16:45 | 6130460 Urtica ferox
Urtica ferox's picture

Tylers

<<  Kunstler: There Are Only 2 Choices For The Masses - "Doomer" or "Wisher" >>

- excellent headline format.  This way I know before I follow the link that I am getting a fix of JHK's enjoyable ranting doom porn. Would you be so kind as to also use this format with Micheal Snyder clickbait articles ?

<<  Snyder: 10 reasons why I am a terminal tosspot  >>

so I will also know what to avoid.

Best regards,  u f

P.S.  (on my knees)  please please please please do this !!!

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 18:39 | 6130805 DonGenaro
DonGenaro's picture

What about all those poor *foreigners* "blown up and mangled the past twelve years" ??
I guess they don't count, being they're not "exceptional" like us.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 19:49 | 6130949 honestann
honestann's picture

Hey James... do you ever drive?  Do you ever travel by airplane?  If so, you're just like the rest of the liars and predators who simply want to control others, but live the lifestyle you promote.  Maybe you and Al Gore are twins?

Oh, and James... did you ever consider other options?  Are there even more than two options, two choices?  Why only "doomer" and "wisher"?  Why not "get outta dodger"?  Why not "doer"?  Why not "find your own ways, everyone"?

Oh, and if you want to criticize the old Disney tomorrowland... then... why not take your own pedictions circa the same year Disney designed their tomorrowland --- and compare to see whether their vision or your vision was closer?  Afraid to apply the same standard to yourself?

Plus, as much as I don't want to defend Disney or any large corporation, I have to ask this.  Circa the moon landings, who could have imagined that the greatest achievement in space 50 years later would be... the moon landings?  Seriously!  After starting from nothing and getting to the moon in 9 years... what reasonable human being would predict "virtually no further progress" in 50 freaking years?  Because any rational, forward-looking human being should have known that subsequent advances in outer space would be just as valuable (and perhaps necessary) to humanity as the moon missions.

Who would have guessed the James-lovers would take over the federal government and stop all future progress in one of the two most crucial endeavors of mankind?

James... please move to the jungle where you belong.  And where you should be much happier, if we are to believe the nonsense you write.  Yes, yes, sprinkled with grains of truth, indeed.  Just like all human predators.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 20:04 | 6131057 atomicwasted
atomicwasted's picture

The best explosion of Kunstler-style luddism I've seen on this increasingly benighted site.  Kudos.

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 19:41 | 6130999 VyseLegendaire
VyseLegendaire's picture

Thanks for putting "Kunstler" in the title.  Normally its absent and I cant tell his articles apart, they even have different titles than his official site....which happens to be down today.  Had to come here to read it.

On point as usual JHK. 

I think some of you took issue with his take on "doomer" vs "wisher" as if it was his own stance.  Rather, he is critiquing the prodominance of these two stances in the major media and its clownish commentators. 

 

Peace ~~

Mon, 05/25/2015 - 22:24 | 6131439 Zapporius
Zapporius's picture

Well, as Alan Watts puts it, "do you consider yourself as the victim of the world, or as the world?"

I mean ye it's all fucked up, but what did You do today? Scratched your arse, and surfed the web, and read something on ZH? :)

Tue, 05/26/2015 - 01:33 | 6131765 MASTER OF UNIVERSE
MASTER OF UNIVERSE's picture

Human beings are attuned to the World through the collective unconscious mind of which we all inhabit to some degree or another. The 'Royal road to the unconscious mind' is through dreams and meditation, or at least that's what the Depth Psychologists posit. Alan Watts once spoke of the cheap hash from Khatmandu Nepal and how great it is. A friend of mine sent me a gram of hash from Khatmandu Nepal flattened out wafer thin via airmail about 28 years ago. Alan Watts is right about a few things I have discovered in life.

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