I just spent three days listening to James Lee Burke's fiction novel The Tin Roof Blowdown, set in the confusion and destruction of huricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. What I came away with from the story was a sudden realization of one reason this society seems to be so broken and on a razors edge. Well, who can know all the whys, but it seems to me the drugging of the people is a large factor in it. You have illegal drugs pushed on the streets, and legal ones on television and through the school systems.

I means the drugs are really being pushed on people ... children and adults. I have two doctors and between them they have perscribed ten drugs for me. I take one (the diabetic pill)! The others could cause more harm than good it seems to me.

Anyway, the book answered some of the question I've carried with me since being there and witnessing the riots in Los Angeles ... how can civilized people become barbarians overnight. I have never gotten over those riots. How those in apartment buildings started to form into tribes when it became clear we had no police protection. I know its not just a spreading drug culture ... but, enough.

It was an interesting novel.

I think drugs are merely a small symptom of a greater issue. There are so many things wrong. I wouldn't focus on drugs.

I'd focus on the mass media monopolies, and thought control.

Before the war in Iraq broke out I was in Hawaii, and it was an enlightening experience. I went 4 different book stores to look for history books. I found precisely zero. I also couldn't find ANY books casting the Iraq war in a negative light.

Even scarier is that supposedly important publications in the states like Time Magazine censored their own online articles. For instance George Bush senior saying that they didn't want to continue the first war because A) they might anger their alllies, B) they weren't sure they could catch Sadam, and C) they weren't sure they could handle a foreign occupation.

So the real question is if there is no law or legal means to coerce this behaviour from the media, then how did it happen? And more importantly, what are these media companies doing now?

As for civil break down and riots... I can only say that that is the expected result from a society that is built on not looking after its own.

Instead of a war on terror, what would happen if there were say a war on smoking? It would cost less, and save lives. As for Iraq, well, they have had a recent reduction in their tracked civilian death rate... they are down to 2000 civilians dead a month.

OK... now that is just a little depressing. And knock off the nostrodomus.

Keep in mind that all western civilization is based on taking advantage of those who are less fortunate. This will never change.

I don't think utter collapse is in the works. Painful shifts and changes will happen. There are two reason for this; A) the USA lost the cold war wholely and completely, and B) the we are running out of easy energy.

Although we will not be able to maintain our present level of energy consumption and standard of living, things will likely change sufficiently in time. Last I heard, inceasing oil prices has started reducing how much is being used in the US. This is a good thing, and hardly a collapse. And this is just the beginning.

When I lived in Africa we had water restrictions. You may not know what that's like, and you might be afraid of it happening... but its not a big deal you get used to it. (We had to share the bath water between 4 people...)

As for Iraq, well, the entire world said, "No, don't go." The US went, and got its butt handed back. I personally don't really care what happens to the US troops in all that. I feel sorry for the Iraqis. Saddam's activities were no where near as brutal as what is going on there now.

Now as for the media... well look somewhere else for your information, and learn to discern.

I read Chomsky, he has lots of interesting facts, but dude, he's a commie pinko, and always fails to deliver a real alternative. If I wanted just to listen to people complain, I'd go to an old age home.

I find the economist real straight forward, and spot on. They frequently have long articles about current real world trends. (I stopped my subscription because it got a little depressing.)

Guess I need to return my Cold War Victory Medal.? Guess there's two sides to everything. I hate discussing politics, but I think history will prove the invasion of Iraq was only a matter of time. We just went at the wrong one. The actual war went well. It has been the followup that has totally gotten messed up, and that is where media and politicians got involved and took it out of the hands of the troops. Now the men and women I helped train not that many years ago are suffering for it.

Now back to paper modeling for me.

Tom

Being a consumate arguer, I think this shall go off line...

I wouldn't say "consummate"...

Economy bad... purchases from Worldworks Games delayed to pay bills... Economic stimulus check having to be held back in case of Union Strike in early 2009 for a possible month...

2008 pretty much stinks for me as far as my hobby budget and having to put off or abandon projects altogether. Wargaming is my zen rock garden, I get the same serene attitude from trying to cut my fingers off putting together the Worldworks models as I do from painting various figures. It probably sounds pathetic that my budgetary scaleback worked out and the first thing to go was wargaming purchases since I've got a backlog of figures and that means the Mayhem City project sort of stalled just as I started building it with my first two purchases. Is it really that hard to scrape together $16.99 from the disposable income? No, but when I do I tend to spend it on my kids before myself. Then when ink catridge costs figure in along with the other miscellanous... But everyone knows this.

Of course I plan to continue to support WorldWorks when I can and finish the project I started but 2008 has turned into being a hard and depressing year. Not so hard that I'm not getting by with keeping on a single income so my wife can stay home with the kids but certain sacrifices have had to be made to achieve and keep that.

Too much info I'm sure, but I'm feeling the stress from the economy, the war, and it's biting my heiney where I relax, with my hobby.

"Here's another thought ... whenever people go to war they have failed themselves. Feel free to jump on that. " From Delta

This statement is begging for a flame war.

I am keeping my piece for now but if this stuff keeps popping up I will be jumping in.

Just to buck the gloom and doom trend -

I live in Hawaii and can find bookstores that sell history books.
I'm getting paid to do stuff (study and write about local history and archaeology) I'd do for free
I'm making more (about three times as much) this year than I ever did and look forward to another raise in July,
I'm getting to playtest new rules from my favorite company, and
My lead pile and WWG collection has been growing.

Alexio

Well one of my things it to study the self-same history books.

Lincoln Jailed reporters that spoke out against the Civil War without trial once it was underway.
Wilson jailed reporters who spoke out about WWI, without trial.
FDR interned Japanese, and locked up reporters who spoke out about WWII.

From what I understand Bush hasn't locked up any reporters for saying things about Iraq.

But even if he had, the country has done that, in a bi-partisan way for over a hundred and fifty years, hardly a new phenominon.

So politics...yummy....I leave Religion out of it, and I have found that people get most passionate and agressive when speaking about Psychology. Say someone's politics is wrong, and you can get people to listen, say the disease du jour is bunk, and the ninjas drop outtsa the ceiling. Happened all the time in my Psychology Classes, not from the professors mind you. :->