Rocky Road

The Boomer Generation had it all. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/boomers-generation-had-everything-it-wanted-and-it-still-does/article2387987/

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/japan-heading-for-energy-death-spiral/255266/#.T3YMpRc-Q3E.twitter "Tanaka's argument is mathematical at its core. He argues that if Japan does not find a way to 'turn on' its now shuttered nuclear energy reactors, not only will Japan's already sluggish economic condition be crushed with much larger oil and gas imports from Russia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East -- but because of the costs and risk uncertainty -- Japan's powerful manufacturing base may begin pulling out of the world's third largest economy. In a morning meeting with me last week, Nobuo Tanaka said that if Japan didn't get its domestic energy production back on line soon, Japan would experience serious 'deindustrialization.'"

Greece's youth unemployment rate is 50+% and there are many European countries that aren't far off that.

http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/police-brutality-increasing-against-occupy.html "Police across the country are increasingly using extreme violence against occupiers. The weekly SF Bay Guardian recently revealed that Oakland police have received numerous complaints of excessive force. In a complaint from Oct. 25, an occupier says that “officers found a person alone, beat him, and broke his knee.” A complaint from a Jan. 7 march says that a police officer kneed an occupier in the back “causing his spine to break.” In New York City, media reports that an occupier’s rib was broken on the six-month anniversary of OWS. When the wounded occupier began having a seizure, she was denied medical attention while a crowd watched in horror. When occupiers from across the middle of America gathered in St. Louis, Missouri for the Occupy the Midwest regional summit, they too were also brutally beat back. Tazers were used, a dozen arrests were made, and several occupiers were led away with their faces covered in blood. In the following eyewitness account, an occupier describes how it feels to be in confronted by extreme police brutality: “For those that have never witnessed police violence, I want to make something clear. Nothing about this situation followed the prescription of an arrest – this media image of a “You are under arrest. You have the right…” is not what happens in real life. A friend said it best, what happened Thursday night was some gangsta shit. It was angry, vicious people jumping unarmed protesters and bystanders. It was an attack. It was intentional brutality. They did not follow any procedure of kettling, “less lethal” tactics, etc. Their actions were directly targeting individuals and beating the shit out of them. It was so fucked up. I am traumatized. I am having flashbacks, and the more I try to make the motions of my mundane life the more vivid they become. Work, school, friendly conversations all seem completely devoid of meaning. All I can do is tell the story of my experience and force the people I surround myself with to question the society we participate in. " "

Well North American youth is the topic here, we may deviate a little in terms of economics but there is a lot that is similar. http://news.yahoo.com/economically-disaffected-american-youth-prime-ingredient-potential-rioting-162400008.html "For young people, there's a continued bleak outlook for a good job, let alone any job, more looming cuts to social programs and ineffective political discourse by our so-called leaders. Still, many of the nation's college students are matriculating in school or are graduating with only large debts to look forward to. This is an ingredient for the recipe of mass social unrest. Even New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned European/North Africa-style riots could be coming to America because of the bleak economy, as reported by CNNMoney. As politicians continue to draw their cushy salaries and perks while reminding Americans that these are the worst economic conditions since The Great Depression, they should take heed to what one novel from that time, "The Grapes of Wrath," had to say about what mass poverty leads to: "when a majority of the people are hungry and cold, they will take by force what they need." "

that article also states that the US has the same problem, even more so.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/03/22/massive-student-strike-begins-with-port-blockade MONTREAL - Tens of thousands of students gathered at the site of the 1995 pre-referendum rally Thursday, beating drums and chanting slogans in the largest protest to date against tuition hikes. They held banners that read "education, a collective right" and "Charest cuts access" during the demonstration at Place du Canada, a large park nestled amid downtown skyscrapers. Students are upset about Premier Jean Charest's plan to add $1,625 to the annual cost of post-secondary education by 2016.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/03/22/massive-student-strike-begins-with-port-blockade MONTREAL - Tens of thousands of students gathered at the site of the 1995 pre-referendum rally Thursday, beating drums and chanting slogans in the largest protest to date against tuition hikes. They held banners that read "education, a collective right" and "Charest cuts access" during the demonstration at Place du Canada, a large park nestled amid downtown skyscrapers. Students are upset about Premier Jean Charest's plan to add $1,625 to the annual cost of post-secondary education by 2016.

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/11/07/pew_center_young_old_wealth_gap_net_income_disparity_at_all_time_high_.html "In addition to mounting college loans and bleak job prospects, young Americans now have something else weighing them down: the widest wealth gap ever between the young and old. Households headed by a person 65 or older have a median net worth 47 times greater than households headed by a person under 35, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. In dollars, that gap amounts to a median net worth of $170,494 for older households, compared to $3,662 for those under 35. Older Americans have always historically had more money than young people, but the existing disparity has doubled since 2005. Just 25 years ago, older households held about 10 times more wealth—less than a quarter of the current gap—after adjusting for inflation. The data also has potential political implications, particularly as the Nov. 23 deadline looms for the congressional supercommittee tasked with finding $1.2 savings over the next decade. As the Associated Press explains, the data "casts a spotlight on a government safety net that has buoyed older Americans on Social Security and Medicare amid wider cuts to education and other programs." At the same time, wealth inequality, high unemployment and growing student debt have also emerged as rallying points for Occupy Wall Street protesters in cities nationwide. Demographers attribute some of the shift to young people marrying later, coupled with increasing numbers of young single parents. Housing is another crucial variable. A home is typically a young person’s most valuable asset, but increasing debt and falling home values during the recession have magnified a 31 percent decrease in housing wealth for those under 35 since 1984, according to the AP. During the same period, the number of people 35 and under with a net worth of zero has nearly doubled, to 37 percent."

"This study found that well over one-half (57%) of the graduating class of 2005 had student loans, up from 49% 10 years earlier. Average student debt on graduation rose from $15,200 to $18,800 during the same decade. Also, the proportion of borrowers who graduated with debt loads of at least $25,000 increased to 27% in 2005 from 17% in 1995." http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100129/dq100129c-eng.htm

"Their employment prospects are dim, their debt is high, their lives are on hold and a stunning number are living with their parents, even into their 30s. They are young adults, 18 to 34, struggling to begin their adult lives during the worst economy since the Great Depression, and they risk becoming a lost generation, according to an extensive new study released Wednesday by two advocacy groups." http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/02/8586286-recession-threatens-generation-of-young-adults-inspires-occupy-protests http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/prb0917-e.htm Despite a significant decline in the number of Canadians(1) living below the low-income threshold(2) over the past decade, low income remains a significant challenge for many people in this country.(3) This document provides a statistical overview of poverty in Canada as it affects unattached individuals and families. Particular emphasis is given to the prevalence of low income among specific population groups, including children, older people, Aboriginal people, people with disabilities, and others.(4) ■In 2007, 9.2% of Canadians – some 2.95 million people – were living on a low income. This represents a decline from the 10.5% prevalence of low income in 2006 and is significantly less than the high of 15.2% in 1996. The year 2007 saw the lowest rate of low income observed since Statistics Canada began to collect these data in 1976.(5) ■The prevalence of low income in 2007 was highest in British Columbia (11.1%), followed by Quebec (10.7%) and Manitoba (9.8%). Prince Edward Island had the lowest rate of low income, at 5.0%. Newfoundland and Labrador saw a significant decline in the prevalence of low income between 2003 (12.2%) and 2007 (6.5%). Alberta witnessed a similar decline, from 10.7% in 2003 to 6.1% in 2007. Every province experienced a decrease in the overall prevalence of low income between 2006 and 2007.(6)

Now what about Portugal, Spain, Ireland, the Uk, the US and Italy???

Here is a film about the Crisis of Civilization.. it goes beyond the mere crisis in Greece, and it encompasses some of the major problems facing humanity today. http://crisisofcivilization.com/watch/

I wish people would understand that pot is a dangerous drug. Especially when you look at it terms of Mental Health. http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2010/downsideofhigh/ See this David Suzuki special on the risks of smoking pot.

scrap the order, save the money.

I agree, mental health needs more attention. drugs are bad. especially pot.

http://leonardoboff.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/confronting-the-sixth-massive-extenction/ "Can we slow down the sixth massive extinction, given that we are its principal cause? Yes, we can, and we must. It is a good sign that we are developing an awareness of our origins, some 13.7 billion years ago, and of our responsibility for the future of life. The universe elicits that in us, because it is not against us, but for us. But it demands our cooperation, because we are the ones causing so much damage. We must wake up now, while there is still time." Isn't survivaal on the agenda of these politicians?

Max Keiser discusses the Debt Burden of the West in this current episode.

what?? "McPherson lives in an off-grid, straw-bale house in Arizona where he puts into practice his lifelong interest in sustainable living via organic gardening, raising small animals for eggs and milk, and working with members of his rural community. Ackerman lives at Shastao Philosophical Hermitage, a solar-powered community in Mt. Shasta, California, where she raises almost all of her own food, uses a bicycle for transportation and is active in her town’s re-localization efforts." Sounds to me like these people are taking action to ween ourselves off the debt-based lifestyles that we have grown accustomed to. One wonders how we can continue to be misled by politicians who tell us that "growth and more debt" are the answer to a world in peril, the reality is we are facing a mass extinction event, climate change, well past peak oil, and water is quickly becoming the world's blue gold.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=collapse%20%22industrial%20civilization%22&source=web&cd=21&ved=0CDUQFjAAOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftransitionvoice.com%2F2012%2F03%2Fackerman-and-mcpherson-a-dialog-on-finding-authenticity%2F&ctbs=qdr%3Aw&ei=P41dT6W7GYGZiAK18KXjDg&usg=AFQjCNFWm9PN1eI6o3VkUj2uPM9mxcFWMg&sig2=Cauicj24hA2F2vKWaI9jNA

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/greece-to-need-more-despite-biggest-ever-bond-ripoff/article2366567/ "Why Greece will need more Greece may have just pulled off the biggest "bond ripoff" by any government in history, and it may it be in line for another €130-billion in bailout money, but its troubles are far from over."

Well, there are many reasons to be concerned about the direction of the global economy with many EU countries on the brink. I for one think the global economy is a house of cards that is being propped up by bad debt. And this can't go one forever, it is totally unsustainable. For those of you with kids, grandkids, what are we doing to establish sustainability in financial/ecological ways?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/the-eus-solutions-add-to-greeces-chaos/article2363237/ "The EU and IMF policies, in effect, have pushed large segments of the Greek population toward poverty and the extreme political fringe. It will be the unenviable task of a new Greek government to keep implementing necessary structural reforms while providing an answer to the country’s social ills. If the coming coalition government fails, the Berlin-Brussels approach to the European debt crisis may well result in Europe’s first failed state since Yugoslavia."

http://www.adbusters.org

Ya that is what I think too, the severity of the situation is serious.