Quotethe absolute end of things
Comes for all of us in it's own time. The collapse of industrial civilization is a process which does not affect all equally. While some collapse others prosper. As industrial civilization falls, parasites do prosper as Mar-A-Lago shows.
I think I am smart enough so that I could have monetized collapse into personal prosperity Chris Martenson style had wanted to. But holding out a tin cup for that is something my life is simply too short for. Monetizing smarts never seemed right to me. Doing so participates in collapse. I put a tin cup on the main page more to be 'normal' than to actually get any money.
I ignored the social bottom. The poor ye always have with you, and for purposes of this post, about the middle falling the bottom only gets bigger. Tthe bottom already has maximum misery. Only the numbers change. Is it 20% or 80% who are miserable today. Is misery a feature of the system.
QuoteWhich is why the picture was cool, even if late stage capitalism ain't quite represented by it yet.
Cool because they were cruel. Like other civilizations of the past. And leave our collapse to Trump and we will be too.
Rome blinded people at the end of their run. No loss. Chattel slavery was tolerated in the Ottoman Empire into the twentieth century, despite formal declarations of abolition. The slave trade continued in various forms until the empire fell. No loss.
The burning to the ground is a relative thing.
QuoteSeems like the social middle as you and I sit in is doing okay compared to the NON social middle some of us can find on street corners.
The median savings account balance for Americans is approximately $8,000, with the average balance significantly higher at around $62,410, largely due to a few individuals with very high savings skewing the average.
I'll guess at your financial status to make this statement. I really do not know or care.
Most people are about thirty days from a tin cup but, you and I are a few months from a tin cup. Whoop-de-do. (from a personal point of view having the larger number does feel good I admit. but seriously. ->) If you are part of the very small group that creates the average number, fuck you. You are part of the problem*. If you are part of the very small number that actually is on the average number then the vast majority of people are above or below you. You are a rare normal solid citizen. This is not a bell shaped curve.
* those who hasten collapse
| Age | Average Savings | Median Savings |
| Under 35 | $20,540 | $5,400 |
| 35-44 | $40,000 | $8,700 |
| 45-54 | $72,520 | $10,000 |
| 55-64 | $100,250 | $13,400 |
| 65-74 | $100,250 | $13,400 |
| 75 and over | $100,000 | $10,000 |
Very few are actually on the average.
And in America, leaving out the lizard people - health care can make paupers of us all.