How the 7 Deadly Sins Could Lead the United States into a Depression, not Recession.
There are some undeniable facts and historical trends that seriously indicate the economy is in much worse shape than most “experts” would have anyone believe. On top of that, throw in a dose of religious mythology and doom-saying, and we have the makings of how the seven deadly sins could lead the United States into a depression, not recession.
GLUTTONY
Wikepedia defines Gluttony as “the over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste….it is considered a sin because of the excessive desire for food, or its withholding from the needy.” For the past 4 decades the United States has implemented an inane policy of farm subsidies; we’re literally paying farmers to destroy livestock and crop. All this in the midst of a world wide food shortage and crisis. World War I was often blamed on the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but the more significant underlying cause was the rising food prices throughout Europe that caused great unrest.
GREED
The meteoric growth of the United States stock market in the 1920’s and its ensuing crash was the catalyst for the Great Depression. One of the primary drivers was the absolute lack of any common sense regulations. Fast forward 80 years, and we have a housing market on the verge of collapse, because every yuppie family in the US wanted a house just a big as their neighbors, even if they didn’t have the income to justify it.
This comical and scary presentation is the best explanation I’ve ever seen of why we’re having a real estate market crash.
The Real Estate Market Crash - Free Legal Forms
SLOTH
Over 1 million students drop out of high school each year (read more here).
We’ve medicated over 2.5 Million children for ADHD.
Besides our troops and their families, over 300 million Americans have never been asked to make a single sacrifice, despite being at war for the last 5 years.
WRATH
We’ve become an angry ass nation. We hate abortionists, we hate pro-lifers. We hate gays, we hate traditionalists. We hate science, we hate religion.
Sometimes I find myself watching Fox News just to see how angry I get.
ENVY
Who are we envious of… ourselves.
40 percent of American families annually spend more than they earn.
The average per household debt in the U.S., not counting mortgage debt, is about $14,500 (before the 1930s, most middle and working class people had no major debts)
PRIDE
The national debt is approaching 10 Trillion Dollars
Our manufacturing industry is in steep decline and we are an increasingly less self-reliant country.
Traditional services based jobs (legal, accounting, call centers) which drive the economy now vie for competition all across the world.
The dollar is at historic lows, and the most likely path to curb crippling inflation will be a steady increase of interest rates, which will eventually cause a rise in unemployment and the price of consumer goods to skyrocket.
In spite of all these historical indicators, we remain overly optimistic, overly abundant, and overly prideful of our economic hegemony in the world.
The US has the most vibrant, innovative, and resilient economy in the history of the world. A serious economic downturn is NOT a foregone conclusion, but it is a likely one if we don’t take heed of historical trends and deadly sins.
what about..
LUST
Actually, that one is not that bad. Check out my last blog post.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Great idea for a post and well written as well.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
[...] How the 7 Deadly Sins Could Lead the United States into a … By Jason Nazar On top of that, throw in a dose of religious mythology and doom-saying, and we have the makings of how the seven deadly sins could lead the United States into a Depression, not Recession. … Jason Nazar’s Blog - http://www.jasonnazar.com/ This as-it-happens Alert is brought to you by . [...]
July 8th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
[...] makings of how the seven deadly sins could lead the United States into a Depression, not Recession.read more | digg [...]
July 9th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Stop being envious of Europe for a change.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
You have some interesting ideas, but they aren’t really expanded on. Especially the sloth one. What does ADHD overmedication have to do with anything?
July 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
[...] makings of how the seven deadly sins could lead the United States into a Depression, not Recession.read more | digg [...]
July 9th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
And will virtue be our salvation? In my experience, it has been my damnation.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Interesting article, but in no way is this related to an upcoming depression/recession. Without any connections to real life implications this is as worthless as the stinking “ugly” bonds
July 9th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I as well don’t understand why you noted ADHD over-medication. Over-medication theories or not, ADHD is one of the most researched psychological conditions, and I think that if we were knowingly in danger, doctors would not align themselves with the threat in mass. If you are going to jump on that bandwagon, could you perhaps show us links to some well founded studies that show the harm you speak of? That old number is played out, and I find your casual mention of it pretty offensive.
“This speaks to the fact that this is a disorder that is really taking a very substantial toll on society,” he added. “Individuals with ADHD across the developmental spectrum are at greater risk for a whole assortment of psychosocial consequences. In adulthood they miss work more, they”re more likely to get fired, they”re more likely to receive negative work reviews.”
That’s the conclusive paragraph from your link. Calling that sloth is pretty lame. You forgot to mention bloggers with “Pride.” They think they know everything.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
What a piss poor use of the 7 deadly sins. Seriously, this is the best you can come up with? The relationships you draw are flimsy at best and completely irrelevant at worst. A catchy title was all that dragged me from digg into actually reading this shit.
And by the way, while food shortages had something to do with WWI it was more about economic and military overextenstion on part of all the european and ottoman imperial forces and the clusterf*ck of alliances tying the continent together ensured if one country goes to war they all do. That in combination with the proliferation of weapons invented through the enlightenment scientific boom/chemical-revolution turned europe into a powderkeg just waiting for a match to fall. The archduke was that match.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
America is already depressed. That’s why they follow their heart’s desire in order to feel happy. Drugs, sex, money, cars, women, shopping, games, etc.
You forgot to mention rampant pornography in this country.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Vince, if you really want an answer to that question, watch this video: http://ted.org/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
Sorry I can’t give you a link to a transcript - I found the speaker a bit annoying, but he makes a very good point about ADHD that goes right to the reason why our current habit of trying to fix it with medication is probably a very bad idea in the long run.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
The Political Economy of Pain - Get more College Essays
July 9th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Yes, the economy and in particular the US dollar is in danger of a crash. Also, Plato rightly says that all governments must come to an end, and I think that current happenings are in consonance with his statement–not only is the economy in great danger, but also US democratic government is in a rapidly deteriorating state.
However, I doubt that mass personal morality of the present age is any worse or any better that that of earlier times. The present troubles are attributable to specific economic problems (inflation, credit crunch, deficits, etc.,, etc.) and extreme corruption and lawlessness at the highest government levels. We’er all going down the drain not because of our morality but because of our inattention to government, our lack of caring, a a good measure of stupidity. Praise the Lord and pass the bottle!
July 9th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
[...] Read the link for more on how the Seven Deadly Sins will Destroy America. [...]
July 9th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Since the time we were just starting school, we were brainwashed into saluting the flag, and pledging allegance, at a time we weren’t even able to comprehend what we were doing. We were hammered with the idea that our government, ie representative democracy was damn near written by god. It is no wonder that the majority of us don’t have a clue that representative democracy has some major downfalls that allowed so much of our present political and economic problems to grow to the size that they may bring our “glorious” country to its knees. Two hundred plus years ago we rebeled against the king and his cronies controling everything and yet we have evolved right back to that same situation. America is not the land of opportunity anymore. We need to limit inheritances to no more than what the people vote to be the correct amount. We need to vote directly on everything from laws to supreme court cases. To hell with representatives derailing the will of the people to their own benefit.
Vote for me to be king of the US and I will use the registered will of the people to direct me on all matters. It would only take a silly little constitutional amendment.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Sloth and Lust, dont they just go good together! Hey now!
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
July 9th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Actually sloth is a little untrue. Nobody’s sacrificing anything because we’re not at war.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/opinion/03thu3.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
July 11th, 2008 at 1:51 am
Good idea for the post, I was actually giving this some though the other day. Gluttony has certainly destroyed our medical system and health care.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Greed:
Your information regarding the Great Depression is incorrect. The Great Depression of the 1930’s, and the boom of the 1920’s are, indeed, linked. And their causes are nearly identical to the boom of the 1990s, and the series of busts which followed (and the many more which are to come). However, the problem was not a lack of regulation.
Refer to: http://mises.org, the Ludwig von Mises Institute, for information on economics and the dangers of the “Politicians’ Promise Standard”.
Note that this depression will be much worse, since the Federal Reserve was somewhat bound by the remnants of the flawed Gold Standard which forced them to stop inflating much more quickly then the current “Politicians’ Promise Standard” under which we suffer. It is anybody’s guess when the real crash will come today, and whether or not it will be preceded by 1920’s German style hyperinflation.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:29 am
[...] makings of how the seven deadly sins could lead the United States into a Depression, not Recession.read more | digg [...]
July 25th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I’m afraid they are not 7 anymore…
September 6th, 2008 at 2:15 am
[...] - bookmarked by 5 members originally found by FilmTeller on 2008-08-15 How the 7 Deadly Sins Could Lead the United States into a … [...]