More wretchedness to come

Chris Hedges in his latest column gives us a preview of the wretched times ahead.

"It is the first formal step by our major trading partners to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. If they succeed, the dollar will dramatically plummet in value, the cost of imports, including oil, will skyrocket, interest rates will climb and jobs will hemorrhage at a rate that will make the last few months look like boom times. State and federal services will be reduced or shut down for lack of funds. The United States will begin to resemble the Weimar Republic or Zimbabwe. Obama, endowed by many with the qualities of a savior, will suddenly look pitiful, inept and weak. And the rage that has kindled a handful of shootings and hate crimes in the past few weeks will engulf vast segments of a disenfranchised and bewildered working and middle class. The people of this class will demand vengeance, radical change, order and moral renewal, which an array of proto-fascists, from the Christian right to the goons who disseminate hate talk on Fox News, will assure the country they will impose."

The countries that are attacking the dollar do not waste time. An American Empire financed by the debt of the very nations it surrounds is unsustainable. Most of America's discretionary spending is on the military or goes to support the military indirectly. If you think the economic crises is wretched now, just fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy flight.

I did not believe my wretchedness could increase. Now I think it can.