The Second Great Depression

by on April 20, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

The Second Great Depression started when the American government defaulted on its foreign loans. That’s the standard lesson taught in history. It’s more accurate to say that a newly elected Congress stopped paying the interest on certain foreign loans to geopolitical foes in an effort to balance the yearly budget. When China reacted by demanding immediate repayment of all outstanding loans, the government could not have done so if they’d wanted to. They did not. What started as a budget battle turned into a geopolitical crisis. China soon nationalized all American-owned property in their sphere of influence, and then began impounding American cargos traveling through their waters. I will remind you that they had already laid claimed to the entirety of the South Chinese Sea at the time. The economic impact on America was…bad.

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The Second Great Depression

by on April 19, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

The Second Great Depression came as s surprise to most people of the time. They had not listened to the economists who said the deficit spending was unsustainable. Or the foreign policy experts or the businessmen who said that America could not maintain her position in the world without making hard choices. They thought the good times would never end. It was too late to stop the train of history by the time they realized the truth. The American government had lost all faith and credit with the last constituency it could not afford to lose. The American people.

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The Second Great Depression

by on April 18, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

I didn’t know anybody who lived through The Second Great Depression when I was young. Or if they had, they didn’t advertise. That’s Northern Minnesota for yah. We all have history, so why talk about it? I’ve met a few people after The War came who did, and the thing that gets me is that most people never saw The Depression coming. They thought there was always another person, bank, or country to borrow money from back then. They thought the credit lines would never end. All they wanted was enough credit to buy the next television, phone, or gaming console. And if they watched the news at all, it was about places far away like Washington, Europe, or Asia. None of it meant anything to their world. Until it did. And then it was just far too late to save the world they knew.

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The Second Great Depression

by on April 17, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: The Book of Civilizations

The Second Great Depression, The Cybernetic Wars, and the rise of the Chinese and Russian blocks helped create the world we live in now. Some histories say that it all started when America defaulted on her foreign debt and kicked off the Second Great Depression, but that is simplistic thinking. The fact is that The Second Great Depression was just one step on a long path all of us walked to get to where we are now. It was simply one of many crises we have seen. Probably the reason it sits in our cultural baggage is because of how many people alive today saw it happen. It was the greatest crisis of their lives until The War came upon us all. So of course they remember it as world changing. And they’re right in a way. It did change the world. But it wasn’t the cause of the change. It was the result of the change.

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Goodbye R. Lee Ermey

by on April 16, 2018 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Ronald Lee Ermey has been an institution in my life. He was discharged from the Marines before I was born, but from the moment I was conscious, he’s always been there for me to see or hear. He’s appeared in TV shows and movies that I love to this day, and his voice acting credits are legion. It’s impossible to overestimate the effect he’s had on my generation. We grew up hearing his voice in everything from Toy Story, to Kim Possible to Family Guy. His voice and tributes to him are in the video games we play. He’s a spokesman for everything from Glock to Tupperware, and we’ve seen him selling Coors Light and GEICO. We can see him in every form of media we have.

He is THE Marine Drill Instructor of my generation. He will be missed.

I can think of no more fitting end then to let The Gunny sign off with one of his more famous lines from a movie that is almost as famous as he is.

“Marines die, that’s what we’re here for. But the Marine Corps lives forever. And that means YOU live forever.” – GySgt. R. Lee Ermey

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