Not a Bit of Hope

So we have millions of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. And- for the last few weeks I have managed to avoid writing about it. But I feel like this BP incident is indicative of the decrepit state of America. As one of my friend's fathers said the other day "Do you know why the USA is like the real estate market? It's good for a while and then it all goes to shit." Millions and millions of gallons of oil gushing into the Gulf will do a number on the Gulf Coast that will destroy its economy for generations. Fishing is nearly gone and will not return for the foreseeable future. Tourism- well, that's out the window too as the oil continues to turn the beaches black. Three of the poorest states in the Union will continue to wither as their economies are sapped of two of their biggest industries. On top of the fact that the ban on oil drilling that will occur will also destroy another large industry- it seems as if the entire area was just turned into pillars of salt.

The general inability of the Obama administration to deal with any of the pressing problems of this country, coupled with the general social unrest and the increasing violence of the fringes of the political sphere- well, it seems like nothing is going to get better. The militant right could indeed seize power as they become better organized and increasingly motivated to vote. As the left and the center of the country become increasingly apathetic, the natural balance to their interests will be made irrelevant.

People are reporting the potential of a double-dip recession if not a full-blown depression. That seems inevitable. The unemployment rate for people aged 14-24 is 25%, whereas it was nearly 40% a few years ago. The unemployment rate for the general populous is hovering around 10%. This does not count the nearly 10% more who are underemployed. This is not because people are not interested in getting jobs, it's because the job market is still so terrible. There has been very little borrowing, very little lending, and the financial reform was not strong enough to change the culture of Wall Street.

We are in for a bleak next few years.