From “theeconomiccollapseblog.com”
The United States has become an extremely gluttonous society. When I say that, I am not just talking about food. According to Gallup, obesity and diabetes “have both reached record highs”, but that is just a very small portion of the overall picture. As a society, we have an absolutely voracious appetite for just about anything that is not good for us. No matter how much we have already consumed, we feel compelled to consume even more. But of course our level of production is not keeping up with our level of consumption. So in order to maintain our ridiculously inflated standard of living we must endlessly go even deeper into debt, and all of the debt that we have accumulated is literally destroying the bright future that our children and our grandchildren were supposed to have.
As a nation, we should be mourning for what we have lost.
Earlier today, I was greatly distressed to learn that U.S. Steel is being sold to the Japanese…
US Steel has agreed to be bought by Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest steelmaker, in a $14.1 billion deal.
The deal marks the latest step in a gradual decline for the iconic 122-year old company, which was once the largest company on the planet. It was one of the first major conglomerates and a symbol of American industrial might.
But it is no longer even the largest US steelmaker, having been surpassed by Nucor Steel years ago.
U.S. Steel was one of the last remaining symbols of American industrial might.
It was literally founded by J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie, and without U.S. Steel the football team in Pittsburgh never would have been named “the Steelers”.
Thankfully, some lawmakers are pledging to oppose this deal. U.S. Senator JD Vance is one of them…
Some lawmakers from rust belt states joined the union in voicing opposition to a foreign buyer Monday.
“Today, a critical piece of America’s defense industrial base was auctioned off to foreigners for cash,” said Ohio’s Republican Senator JD Vance, in a statement. “I warned of this outcome months ago and will oppose it in the months ahead.”
He is right.
We can’t allow our industrial base to be auctioned off to foreigners.
If we want to have a great economy, we have got to be great at making stuff.
It really is that simple.
Meanwhile, our level of consumption continues to go up, and this is driving U.S. households into staggering amounts of debt…
A growing number of Americans are falling behind on their monthly credit card and car loan payments, a trend that may be a harbinger of economic troubles ahead, according to a new report from Moody’s Analytics.
Findings published by Moody’s indicate that household debt balances jumped to $17.29 trillion in the three-month period from July to September, up 1.3% from the previous quarter. That also marks an increase of $3.1 trillion since the last quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Delinquency rates spiked just prior to the Great Recession, and it is starting to happen again.
In fact, Zero Hedge is reporting that “40% of student loan borrowers skipped their payment in October”…
In October, the number of Americans delinquent on subprime auto loans hit the highest rate on record, amid a rise in Google searches for “give car back” – while the number of people who are upside-down on auto loans is at the highest level since April 2020.
Now, according to data released Friday by the Biden administration, 40% of student loan borrowers skipped their payment in October, the first since the pandemic-era freeze on student debt expired.
Of course when it comes to debt, the federal government is the biggest offender of all.
Right now we are 33.8 trillion dollars in debt, and we will almost certainly hit the 34 trillion dollar mark before the end of the year.
We have stolen all of this money from future generations of Americans, and it is a crime that is so great that I don’t even have the words to describe it.
But we just can’t help ourselves.
If we think that something is going to make us feel good, we have just got to have it.
So we just keep spending and consuming with no end in sight.
Once upon a time, Christmas was considered to be a religious holiday by many Americans, but now it has just become a giant orgy of greed and consumption.
For most people, getting more stuff is the real “reason for the season”.
What in the world has happened to us?
At this point, we have become a society where literally anything goes…
A Democrat congressional aide who was fired for filming a gay sex tape in the Senate is facing possible criminal charges after his X-rated clip swept the internet.
Aidan Maese-Czeropski, 24, was fired by Maryland Senator Ben Cardin Saturday afternoon, less than a day after a lewd video showing two men having sex in a Senate hearing room was exposed.
The Capitol Police are reportedly now investigating the explicit incident, which occurred in the same room where Supreme Court justice nominees are grilled by senators.
What happens in Washington D.C. is truly a reflection of what is going on in our society as a whole.
Our leaders have been making horrendous decisions for decades, but the American people keep sending the same people back to D.C. over and over again.
But this game cannot go on indefinitely.
If we do not find a way to turn things around, time will soon run out for our nation.
So let us hope for a national awakening.
Unfortunately, our gluttony appears to be reaching a crescendo, and it appears that most Americans are unlikely to be shaken out of their stupor any time soon.
Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.