Be Very Afraid: The American Economy Is Cannibalizing Itself, and We the People Are Going to Pay

[KurtNYC]

15. What scares me is that I am not hearing any vision for the future.

I don't buy into just calling 2008 a "recession" and implying that things will eventually go "back to normal". There is no going back. We are in a new phase economically. The population growth and having Europe in post-war recovery that put us on top in the 1950s is gone forever. The economy is now like a slot machine that doesn't payout any more. It's time for a new game but the current one may have to crash completely before any meaningful transition can begin.

A new economy would need more jobs, perhaps with less hours worked by each person. And wages adequate to sustain our standard of living. But the current world economy uses the USA to be the consumers who fuel growth in overseas factories by buying increasingly on credit. We are spending money we don't make any more in order to prop up the illusion of "normal" for as long as possible.

I'm hopeful that Detroit and other cities will transition. People are very willing to better the places they make their homes but they need a vision that involves them, one that they can plug into and help make a difference.