Not Just Any New Year or New Weekly Topic!

[cieldumort]

We had to have a little hiatus from the polling as the holidays took many of us offline for several days, myself included.

But now that 2012 has arrived .. 2012 anyone??

It's time for a new weekly topic, of course!

TOPIC - 2012

Comments

[hugh_mannity]

C) None of the above. Just more of the same.

I think it'll take more than a year more for the current system to either get fixed or collapse. I suspect we'll see more curtailment of our liberties, more venial and corrupt BS from politicians and corporate flunkies, but not enough to either bring the system down completely or force TPTB to fix things.

[cieldumort]

I don't see collapse any time soon - too many vested interests in keeping things floating along for as long as possible (being, for as long as it isn't costing those interests more than it is making them)

[hugh_mannity]

for as long as it isn't costing those interests more than it is making them
Exactly. However, the costs that will be born by us ordinary mortals include inflation, unemployment, curtailment of liberties, increasingly punitive prison sentences, larger prison population (possibly with increasing use of prisoners as labour), more compulsory spending (e.g. the mandatory health insurance as per the Massachusetts model courtesy of Mitt the Twit), and so on.

It's going to be harder to either get ahead or stay afloat. Unless you're already ahead of course.

[cieldumort]

It will be interesting to see what the SCOTUS says about Obamnycare. Despite being an Obama supporter, it's no secret that I tossed my cookies when he embraced that model after campaigning against it.

[sophiaserpentia]

Neither? I think we're about 2/3 of the way through the depression. Housing will finally have a chance to start recovering once the mortgage situation has played out, which should be 2013 or 2014.

[cieldumort]

No repeat of 1937 this year then? Or, perhaps even a late 90s Japan? Hybrid?

I personally think hybrid is a strong possibility.