I think things are working up to a big ugly revolution. Riots and blood in the streets on a mass scale. Just give it a little longer.
Depends on what ideology the people revolting are pushing...
If it's either of the two political extremes it'll die an even uglier death. If the left calls for Socialism and revolts the people on the right will feel like they are being attacked and counter the revolution.
If the far right calls for a Theocracy the people on the left will revolt, and the revolution will fall.
If it's a revolution targeted at stripping the politicians of powers, and returning to the Constitution as it was written, and doing away with all the powers that the States and the Federal Government has usurped from the people then it might have a chance. There's also the problem that a revolution might open a path for a dictator, and frankly, any one with enough political clout to become a dictator doesn't deserve the job.
The last thing we need is the scumbags in D.C. leading us, or some empty headed person from Hollywood.
No, I don't think we'll have a revolution, at least not a good revolution, headed by sane, intelligent, rational people. Any revolution would be headed by the extremists, like Grow Rebel, who has never read the constitution, and thus thinks that Bush is illegitimate.
The only thing important to a revolution, is who leads it. Are their honorable people like George Washington, who will lead us to victory, and then step aside despite calls for him to become King? Yes, but there's also people like Alexander Hamilton who will screw this country over by re-establishing the old oligarchy of the landed, and the financiers.
And while Europe might be eager to recognize any revolution, they would have problems with a United States suddenly fighting a Civil War, and that problem would be the withdrawal of troops.
Korea would face the same problem. In the end another American Civil War would be more damaging to the world, because of the deployment of United States soldiers that keep order in some parts, and push the economy in others.
The Koreas would probably resume fighting their war, because N. Korea needs the wealth of S. Korea if it is ever to push beyond being a backwater that resembles the worst of the dark ages.
Europe's economy would falter, as the wealth being pushed into it by the number of soldiers in Germany and England would suddenly be withdrawn.
Then there's the issue of foreigners interfering. Any organization that accepts foreign money would find itself opposed on all quarters. The moment foreigners try to interfere the revolution will find any public support for it destroyed.
Add Mexico to the mix, and it's faulty ideas that they actually own the Southwest and you have an even worse situation.
No, unfortunately a Revolution/Civil War is not a good idea. Well, it is, but it isn't at the same time. The only way to successfully carry out a revolution would be to elect statesmen and stateswomen that share the ideals of a free, and prosperous nation where the government leaves people alone, and is not constantly trying to fix things, causing more problems, that they then want to fix, creating an endless cycle of problem creation and attempts to fix the problems created.
Despite claims to the contrary, America is the Engine that pulls the World Economy along. This crisis has seen the proof of that. China is suffering, Germany is suffering, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Iran, Saudi Arabia, every country that depended on American Economic Strength is suffering, because of the weakness of our economy. In the oil producing nations the sudden drop in demand caught them flat footed with billions in loans (made to them by the same banking institutions that got bail outs from D.C., no doubt) and now they are scrambling to pull their cash out of their sovereign funds, which have lost billions in value.
Then there's China, which relied upon the US Consumer for much of its growth. With out the American Economy it is realizing that the engine that was driving the domestic growth was the export sector (Revenge of Mercantilism?) and India, with its issues of fraud in the outsourcing sector may realize that it's even more vulnerable to a collapse of its export (outsourcing) sector.
Then there's Europe, and our Export Sector, which relied upon the growth in demand here, to stimulate demand from abroad for our capital products, machinery, tractors, mining equipment, presses, etc. They are suffering too, because of the weakness of our consumer sector.
And yet, the problem is a lack of credit, and over expansion of the same. Problems that the government can not really resolve as it [government] showed with TARP, and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which while giving the banks billions, failed to address the issue that they NEEDED TO LEND THAT MONEY OUT in order to get the economy going again. Then there's the people that are over extended credit wise, or nearly so. They either are in the middle of going bankrupt, and facing foreclosures, or trying to limit and shrink their debt.
There is nothing (well practically nothing) that the government can do about that. Any method done will make the problem far worse, before it makes it better.
Once again, the United States has found itself facing a situation similar to the Great Depression, where through their loans the banks faced way too much exposure to the over-expansion of credit, and not enough reserves to back their deposits.
One bank run against a major bank (any major bank) would see the entire house of Dominoes collapse. The only thing the government can do is try to prevent the Domino that are the banks from collapsing, because once they go, the economy will go with it. The only solution at that point would be, a World War. Jump Start the economy by producing trillions of goods that are promptly destroyed, and thus add nothing to the economy in the long run.
Not exactly an ideal solution. Who would we fight?
Russia? Not with our troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Russia may be weaker than it was during the Cold War but it is also stronger economically with a vast store of wealth in its sovereign fund.
China? Might as well watch Starship Troopers or read the History of World War I to see how well a war of attrition works.
N. Korea? Why bother a dying nation?
Cuba? What's the point, Castro is dead, or dying, and in another forty to fifty years it is likely they will adopt the path of the Chinese, and of the United States, a free-enterprised system supporting a welfare state.
The best solution would be to adopt massive tax cuts, and hope that the middle class, and the working class, who are huddling in their homes, drinking wine and beer, and wondering how long before they'll be outside freezing due to losing their jobs realize that if they are going to keep their jobs they need to make sure that other people keep their's by spending their money.
Consumer Confidence, and Consumer Credit, with the weakness of the Credit Markets the only thing that can pull us out of this crisis is to boost Consumer Confidence, and I hate to be a messenger of ill news, but the government doesn't have a solution for that.
Speaking of the government, the local government's have played a giant role in the current economic crisis, with outsized salaries to administrators and bureaucrats. Just yesterday I was reading in the newspapers that Administrators here in Ohio were clearing $300K. That's money that should have rightfully been going to improve the infrastructure, which would have worked to prop up the economy just a little bit. Now, any attempts to work on the infrastructure will be too little, too late.
