Do you feel it? The escalating "panic of the people?"

Just wondering if others are encountering it too?

At the gas staion, in the supermarket lines and in
the unexpected conversations with complete strangers.

I have seen a marked rise in what I call
the "panic of the people."

Americans from all walks of life appear to me to be
sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Most people work more hours than they see their
families and still can't make ends meet.

The are exhausted by the endless string of
garbage stories on the news and the feeling
that they are about to drown in the economy.

The prices keep rising and no matter how
hard they work, they are seeing their way of life
slip from underneath their feet.

I don't know if it's just me, but I sense
a change coming, I don't know what, but it feels
like many people are on the verge of going
off the deep end.
I prefer staying home in this atmosphere.

Wondering about the social temperature in your world-

BHN

get angry. go to the streets and complain when our elections are bought and sold. I am starting to feel as if there is no way for us to ever win our country back within our lifetimes. I know that historically tyranny is always defeated, but sometimes it takes 500 years. I don't know if we can win. I believe less and less in the dem party. With notable exceptions: Feingold, Gore, R Kennedy, Boxer, Kerry against the war, Conyers always.

They could be fooled into voting Republican again.
Tired, alone, doesn't help us. They need to THINK. -JJ

They vote against their own interests because they are conned into being AFRAID.

the people who are most concerned about terrorists tend to live out in the middle of nowhere, say, 25 miles from the nearest town.

subway to work every day....

I am a general manager for a large retail corporation. My store is located in a white middle class, blue-coller area surrounded by white, upper middle and upper class neighborhoods.

I have noticed a definite upswing lately in the amount of stress that I can detect in my customers. In fact, it's becoming increasingly unpleasant to work with the general public.

This is one of the reasons why I believe that things are about to get very, very bad very soon.

One thing you can say about the GOP: they will give the people someone to blame.

The GOP is in charge of everything.

BTW, I'm EXTREMELY pessimistic. As in, by this time next year politics may not matter at all pessimistic.

You have my sympathies working in retail.
Been there, done that.
American consumers in general can be an unpleasant
lot to deal with under normal circumstances, it's that
"ME, ME ME" sense of "entitlement" fostered by
the corporate culture here that often turns them
into little tyrants when they are shopping.

Now the little tyrants are feeling the squeeze
at the gas pumps and market and they are not happy
with having to do without and watch the purse strings.
So again, you have my sympathies.

I don't know if I could do what you do every day
again- I went into education and I much prefer the kids
to their cretin parents.

BHN

I work for a chain whose stated reason for existence is to sell items to small businesses (although we also do a ton of consumer stuff).

Over the past year, we have slowly been raising the prices on everything in the store. I would say prices have gone up 10% over the past year.

It's been so imperceptible that no one has complained (and certainly the MSM has been downplaying inflation), but I can't help but think that this is unsustainable.

People are going out less. Buying less. And the price of doing business is going up. My thought is not "if" things get bad, but "when".

It's what to do to make ends meet and working with the public has put me at odds . They are aggressive and demanding so I don't feel like I am doing a service and helping but rather like I am in battle to see who can have the last word in a never ending argument and I am restricted to being polite they have all at their disposal and use it .

So what ever I do it has to be something that does not involve some product or service and to stay away from this reduces the odds of making a living by a large amount . With all that is wrong , who cares about some product or it's ratings , this seems so pointless and futile .

What it will take to awake the sleeping masses I don't know,
But I believe that event is coming,whether it is a manmade event or not I don't know, but I am very tired for the rest of um to catch on!!!:crazy:


edit to say K&R!:toast:

and NOT toward us but AGAINST US? They will be persuaded to blame "us" when Bush's house of (credit) cards comes down.

Think Kinder and Gentler (and not OVERTLY racist) Nazis.

First off, believe you me I have no doubt the denizens and authors of the Bush Lie Machine have been dreaming and scheming for quite awhile now (Rex 84 and Cheney's Shadow Government, to name two of many).

Second, you are absolutely corrct in that they will have someone preset to blame.

My guess is it will be the Jews, errr, Liberals (yeah, that's what they're calling the same people Hitler gassed, Jews, gays, immigrants, etc., these days).

And it will work, at least on enough people to get them old Halliburton Homeland Detention Camps up and running with it's first round of brown people.

Tragic beyond words. Let's hope it doesn't go down like that.

I see us boiling the frog. We've been on a long, slow descent into something we may not be able to climb out of.

I don't think there will be one single Armeggeden-style event. I think that one day, probably soon, the country will wake up and discover that the hole it's been digging for itself is too deep to get out of.

I hope I'm wrong, but I really don't think so.

all of the groundwork has been laid via Congressional curtailment of civil rights, packing hte courts, reverse robinhood-ism to the point that the social safety net and the social contract are all but gone. When they finally put the teeth into it, it's gonna get ugly.

I read this:

http://www.thirdreich.net/Thought_They_Were_Free.html

"You see," my colleague went on, "one doesn't see exactly where or how to move. Believe me, this is true. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for the one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don't want to act, or even to talk, alone; you don't want to "go out of your way to make trouble." Why not? - Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.

snip

"And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can't prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have.

"But your friends are fewer now. Some have drifted off somewhere or submerged themselves in their work. You no longer see as many as you did at meetings or gatherings. Informal groups become smaller; attendance drops off in little organizations, and the organizations themselves wither. Now, in small gatherings of your oldest friends, you feel that you are talking to yourselves, that you are isolated from the reality of things. This weakens your confidence still further and serves as a further deterrent to – to what? It is clearer all the time that, if you are going to do anything, you must make an occasion to do it, and then you are obviously a troublemaker. So you wait, and you wait.

"But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes. That's the difficulty. If the last and worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and the smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked – if, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in "43" had come immediately after the "German Firm" stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in "33". But of course this isn't the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.

much more at link.

"And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can't prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. You are left with your close friends, who are, naturally, people who have always thought as you have.

:scared:

And there's the rub.

Thanks to the corporate controlled education system,
"this must lead to this" thinking, as in logic and critical
analysis, has been effectively eliminated from the duh-murikkkan
population.

That is why "this must lead to this" has effectively
gone right over our heads.

BHN

will be the most shocked in the end.

I would rather see what is coming and try to prepare somehow.

I hope I am wrong, but I am not alone in my assessment. Far greater minds than mine are making the comparisons also.

If it isn't already

Over the years, DUers have posted excerpts
from this, and other books.
I say they always bear repeating as they
are timeless and more than relevant
to our collective situation.

BHN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1474735

Imagine I will be flamed hard and hot for the comparison, but such is life.

:hi:

This is what many people talk about when they discuss parallels between the Bush Administration and the Nazis. The situations aren't exactly alike, but the PROCESS is the same, and I think this time the "holocaust" (probably nuclear or mass starvation & poverty) will happen on a global scale. (not to diminish in any way the tragedy of the victims of the Nazi's in Germany, of course.)

I just think that we are going to end up seeing some horror, the likes of which we had never imagined.

I keep making the point that no one wakes up one morning and it has become a fascist state. The process is slow and insidious.

But it IS happening here. People can flame me all they want. The first time I read these passages I shuddered. Too familiar.

I wish you were wrong about the horrors yet to come, but am afraid you are correct smirky.

The Holocaust was an horrid abomination, but different methods don't mean it isn't occurring.

Slow and insidious.

People who whine and cry and bitch but don't do one damn thing, make one damn phone call, write one damn letter, send one damn e-mail.

Of course living here in Nebraska I get a real cheap and perverse laugh from it all. These bastards voted for him.

I've seen it at the cash register. I've just had the worst six weeks in the eight years I've been doing this.

Everyone else I know who owns a business is saying the same. Except the bar owners and liquor stores. Business is booming for them.

PM me your business and if I ever can use it, I'll come by. I like to support small business.

a nice group of people around it at that time on a Saturday night...nada...I was THE ONLY ONE THERE. This was a micro-brewery with some real nice flatscreens in it. No one at the bar AT ALL. I was there for around a half hour. No one else came in.

my aunt who lived in iowa had a farmhouse from where she could see the interstate a little ways off...she'd always say that she could generally tell how well things were doing in the economy by the number of semi's on the interstate. when things are good, lots of things are being transported for sale and supply...and i keep on seeing lots of trucks out on the roads.
my wife's job is VERY busy, and personally- nobody that we know is/are in any kind of dire financial straits.

the Bush admin is not adverse to rewarding Republican districts and punishing Democratic ones. They control the purse strings - they control the Congress - all this pork spending - who do you think is benefiting from the majority of it? Republican districts. All that money we're borrowing is being spent somewhere - defense and energy industries and the areas that service them are booming.

All I know is what's happening to me and the people I know. We are much worse off than we were six years ago. Ninety percent of the people I know, both friends and people in the business community, are worse off than they were six years ago. The other 10% is better off. Way, way better off.

800.00 bucks GROSS over the last two weeks...and that's it!

We were doing 1000 to 1500 a day back in 2000 and thing have dwindled down slowly since that time, but I have never seen ANYTHING like this last month.

These last six weeks like you said have been totally bizarre...there just is NO BUSINESS and everyone else we know in business isn't moving anything either.

The big crash is already here for my family we're selling just about everything.
We're done borrowing (did that after 9-11 to stay afloat when things tanked for two months)

Thank God we have a kind hearted relative with a very large home that is paid for free and clear where we can go and live to regroup and try to get out of this hole.

is hanging it up after 18 years. The store two spaces from mine hasn't had a single month in the last 16 where they've broken even. The coffee shop two spaces down the other side has been closing afternoons because he's not bringing in enough to pay his help. I could go on and on with the horror stories. I'm not trying to be a doomsayer - you have to be something of an optimist - even a pollyanna - to be in business, but...

I don't know... I've seen downturns - the 2001 recession, 9/11, the run up to the invasion - I've never seen anything like the last two months. Never.

It was pretty bad in like 1990 for a couple of months during Sr's bullshit forays into the middle east and it was bad starting in October or November after 9-11 but we have NEVER seen anything like these last two months in the 18 years we have been in business.

It's like everyone just packed up their wallets and went into hiding!

It's just time to cut bait--suck up the loss and humiliation and call it a day in our particular situation.

I am in an area of the country that has been hit HARD so I realize it isn't this bad everywhere but if this maniac and his flunkies continue on this course it will eventually be felt in most areas.

It really sucks to go through this esp when I knew it was coming on election night 2000 when that cretin POS announced that he had no intention of losing.

How in the hell did we go from a surplus and a comfortable stable living to THIS?
It's infuriating!

And the strange thing is the most anger is coming from repubs. They know they were screwed. I have nothing to feel guilty about. This is so much NOT my fault. I will stay and fight for my country, but I did not put it here...

....higher delivery charges, the ever worsening news about the "war on terror" and yes I see "escalating panic of the people" and increasing anger bordering on hatred for everything this administration stands for. But yes, it is growing out of the higher gas prices and higher food prices due to higher delivery costs.

:dem: I just hope this translates into Democratic votes in November from one end of this country to the other. :dem:

Mostly Republicans and Libertarians. But when I hear very creditable doctors and such worry and speak in total disgust of the state * has put us in, it's chilling.

it's these blasted Mexican immigrants that are causing our problems." It's quite the deflection trick.

I just came from the grocery store and had a woman say something about the high prices and there was something in her voice and tone that made me know she had great concerns.
And i get it all the time at the gas pump.

And the clerk told me lots and lots of her customers are freaking out financially...she brought it up, and told several anecdontes.

I know virtually all of my friends are feeling squeezed, and -- hell -- so am I.


Thanks a pantload, republicons.

And they are feeling it harder.

It's bad, but many just chalk it up to a bad patch they are going through and that it will end sooner or later. I don't think most folks realize the long-term trend is against the American worker. It's been against the American worker since the end of the 1960s. People won't change their habits or their lifestyle unless they can actually see the damage they are inflicting on themselves with their own eyes.

Only a small minority who are informed know the long-term forecasts are not looking good, but most people write them off as doomsayers who have always predicted doom on the horizon.

It's worse in the third world. When it gets that bad, people do something. This is what is happening across Latin America: People doing something.

the American people do something? let line the streets and scream so loud that we are not going to take this shit anymore.

the anger we have must be shown to those in DC. sounds like everyone is ready to accept anything that comes along, I hope I'm wrong, this is our country. just my rant.

to abc, cbs, nbc, cnn, msnbc. screw fox. they will lie to the point of no return.

every employee of each of those networks should have to run a gauntlet of angry americans every time that want to enter their place of employment.

they pump out the lies, and they need to live in FEAR of when the american people REALIZE they are pumping out the lies.

gated communities will not protect them, when the shit hits the fan. everyone responsible for this fiasco will be a target.

People are scared because they realize the media and the Pentagon are complicit in covering up the administration's lies. Fascism is fully established and our standard of living, like our vote, no longer matters. We're fucked.

What's alarming is watching/feeling the rising panic in the
general population.
We all know (DU) that this is not getting better anytime soon.
The question is, just how crazy is it going to get?

I don't think the average American is prepared to
become a thrid world citizen and frankly, they scare me
under these conditions.

Seriously, I think 90% of the people I encounter
are on the verge of flipping out.

That's why...
I like to stay home these days.

BHN

I feel distress from all around me, outside of these walls.

I agree. It's fascism and most of the country doesn't even recognize it. The media becomes more corrupted by the day. If the powerful fascists chose to become even more reckless and radical I fear they would get away with it. Their sheeple believe any outrageous thing the right wing radio heads tell them.

POWER of the people to fight against the CORRUPT corporate robber barons and political thieves that are destroying this nation. Revolutions have corrected this type of tyranny throughout history, and it will happen again.

to reading all the replies to your post.

Thank you.

Redstone

I know I am not imagining it.
People are growing increasingly edgy.
It is as if they are constantly distracted with the
gnawing awareness, that something is VERY wrong.
Of course we at DU have known it for some time,
what is disturbing is to see it manifesting in the average
citizen- the feeling of "Uh-oh...I'm in deep shit and
and don't know why. My paycheck doesn't cover
my gas and food anymore and it's getting worse..."

Kind of like watching caged rats, ya know?
There's something a little frightening about it,
wondering when they are going to start cannabalizing
each other to survive?

BHN

so to speak. Too bad this question won't get asked nationally by, say, one of the TV networks. Now THAT would be even more interesting.

Maybe you should call PBS and ask them to do it?

Redstone

That's what the administration wants. That's what they crave.

... what better way for the * administration to state that local governments and police agencies can't handle the situation. Therefore it will be time to institute martial law, and suspend the elections....

Scary indeed but not past what these bastards might do.

AND, while we are feasting on one another the administration goes on cutting essential services, education,et.al. while they feed the corporate monsters. It indeed is very distressing. I suggest that those who have businesses that serve the rich (you know the ones with the tax cuts) that we charge them for their ineptness. These people are the ones who take from us and yet they can do little for themselves.....well, the price has just gone up! I realize that this suggestion doesn't fit all businesses but for those who can......maybe we can trickle down to ourselves.

asses off and are so stressed out we don't have much energy left for living, yet we are still living paycheck to paycheck (this is in Manhattan, where anything less than 100k per year is practically poverty level - seriously.) The trade off is no longer worth it and people know it.

There used to be some reward for hard work and long hours. Not anymore. Just more stress and anger at having the life sucked out of us for a paycheck that barely covers the necessities.

I agree...today whether you make a 100 thou or 12 depending on where you live and what you need to do (buy and sustain) to maintain that salary--it ends up we're all sort of getting lumped into one big sinking ship!

In the 90's we worked hard but we also had disposable income to enjoy in our leisure time--now there is no disposable income...

as the rest of us work our days away trying to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table & clothes on our backs.

We are partially to blame for letting corporations distract us by defining affluence as material wealth instead of leisure time. It's people & the time you spend with them that make up the substance of our lives, the memories that we cling to on our deathbeds, not the things that we acquire & own. Remember the sundial in the opening scene of Gone With the Wind?

"Time is the essence of our lives."

Americans never have understood that its not The Things--it's the leisure time.

When you are worried about eating and keeping a roof over your head...that's where they want us...so defeated and stressed out that we can't think.

I'm so sick of this shit. Six or seven years ago, I could have easily made the choice to give up the "security" of a home, a job, etc, and just lived completely off the grid, but without stress, debt, and bullshit. Instead I finished school (going into debt for the first time in my life), got a straight job, and tried to follow the rules. What has it got me? Ever-increasing debt, a threat of eviction nearly every month when I can't make my rent on time, overwork--with the stress compounded by being hungry all the fucking time, and a feeling of utter despair. What the fuck? What am I supposed to do?

The public thought that he was a liar and unbelievable!! Now that is really a joke when you consider the cheating, lying, and total arrogance towards the average citizen that this admin. has exhibited. In Cinton's days Everything was upbeat and positive. Then the religious freaks took over the sound bites on the media and the rest is history. How they love to spread fear. That is sick.

We are no longer functioning with a "we're all in this together" mindset, rather, it's "us against them," each of us fighting for any little crumb left over from the gorging at the trough.

in the co-op today about what the tragedy of the bushites being in charge of the destiny of our country.

I heard someone came in the morning before I got there and had a t-shirt on that had a picture of the wh with the words.."Regime Change Begins At Home"!

income. Also, I am directly on the flight path of the N. Korean nuke thing. Dread? Yeah. I've felt it for a while now and its rising. The whole country is suffering from depression.

I would agree; I know I am drinking more than I should.
I wake up in the middle of the night all the time-
truly afraid for everyone.
Sometimes a good stiff drink is the only way to
get back to sleep.
Sad, but true.
BHN

really up since 1993", too! Coincidence? You do the calculations!

so I say, so?

anti depressants, is this what we should be doing, are we surrendering? I won't to these thugs, this is exactly what they want us to do.

drinking that is, in an effort to forget....and hope that tomorrow will be a bit more hopeful......but tomorrow never comes! I've become a master at robbing Peter to pay Paul.

the North Korean missle had a path! bushites have been busy starting bogus wars when real threats go unheeded.

Like Dean says.."They're not smart enough".

not nearly as many new houses being built this year, and realtors are having more people back out of deals at the last minute. One of our techs has had offers to go with another company, but he's worried about the economy, and would rather stay where he is than be laid off.

What you descrive is pretty much the feeling people had in the 70's. Inflation that wouldn;t stop. Prices kept going up on everything, while we were bogged down economically. The Energy Crisis didn;t help matters much.

There was a generalized anxiety as a result.

Back then it did lead to a sea change. It ushered in the Age of Conservatism.

Today, it seems the "I wortd" is never mentioned. Instead its described as specific things like gas prices. But let's get real. We are stuck in an inflationary spiral, and have been for a long time.

The only bright spot now might be that this generaliewd angest might push the pendulum in the opoposite direction, as the bums that people want to throw out are the conservatives.

Now we have global warming, then it was acid rain. People are pissed off, either too hot or too cold. Everyone living hand to mouth, denial by the government that times are hard, yet you see with your own eyes that the guy living in the fancy house has a for sale sign up (no takers yet) and is working two part time jobs instead of that jazzy job he used to have (offshored and outsourced), his wife, who never worked, just volunteered, is suddenly taking orders at Mickey D's and buying food off the bargain rack and the day old bread at the local market. The kids are off the soccer team, the folks can't afford the fees; they aren't going to camp this year either. The fancy leased car is gone; replaced by a rusty clunker.

People are barely hanging on.

kinda like the monkey focking the skunk, I've had all this stinking shit I can stand

Know exactly what you're driving at and the answer sadly is 'yes'! It's been a build-up. People of all walks of life, cultures, age groups, religions and non, you name it. It's in the air, this strange over-whelming uneasiness and of total un-trust of *&Cheenee and the future.

The good news is that everyone says literally the same thing to a tee, talking 1 on 1 not knowing the other or what anyone else has said, and that is that everyone states the same verbatim: "I hate *, hate the bastard... Don't want to hear his name or see his face on TV - turn it off the minute I hear his name or bad mentions of Democrats."

Mind you. Most all bring * up, yet they "hate *!"

I don't recall a time like this, and neither do they.

There is a place near my house, a Mexican joint- the local
watering hole and eatery, if you will.
The clientel is extremely diverse-
Cowboys, industry execs, house wives and just
average working Joes.

A year ago, the debate was on;
right versus left, blah-blah-blah...
Not so anymore.
There is no debate, just a collective
"deer in the headlights" sympathy circle.

I mean at one point, the right versus left "discussions"
verged on violence, resulting in repeated interventions
by concerned patrons and employees- it was a
regular blood-letting at times-
Not so anymore.

Everyone is scared and seeking support
from one another- no more, "RAH-RAH Bushies."

More like, what was that you were saying about
voter fraud?

Interesting to say the least.

BHN

Never do I see the flag waving from atop car windows, nor from folk's lawns and homes but a bare few and I mean few.

What's the most surprising is when these people of all walks of life, after ranting and raving over *&Cronies and how they've screwed everything to he$$ and throwing these bums out (not Dems, but the GOP*) some, not all mind you, but some feel this strange, and strong need to follow with the strangest apology ever: They follow with, "And I'm a Republican!"

Blows me away every time. Started hearing that latter line last summer, over and over again.

Who's the base? People making $$ from all of this, maybe?

Unfortunately I think I live in an alternate universe. The people around here seem utterly clueless. You'd think someone had cast a spell on them or something. Replaced by Disney animatrons? It's maddening.

I don't know where you live, but I think the condition is
more evident in highly diverse and populated areas.

I live in Los Angeles where the rats are more closely caged
and the standard of living more diverse.
We have the richest and the poorest living
side by side- literally.

BHN

Everyone seems to be going on as always . No one brings issues up , I have and them you get their perspective and so far the people who have answered are not thrilled but they don't appear in a panic just complain and that's about it . Most people in lines are on their cell phones talking about nothing from what I hear and I can't help but over hear becasue they talk loud as if they are in their own phone booth even if it's in front of the freezer section there they are cell connected .

Most people I encounter turn thier nose up at the mention of the DNC but if i mention Progressive Democrats of America, or DFA and contrast them with the corporations-first pressure groups that have hijaacked our party, like the DLC, I get a better reaction.

I think the key is to get people to understand that the party isn't this monilitic entity and that if they get involved they can help push it back towards a platform that puts workers and the middle class above increased profits for corporations.

Like I said in my OP- most of these people are working more
hours than they spend with their families-
They are exhausted and frankly, whipped to an inch
of their life energy by the end of their day, not to mention
extremely DEPRESSED.

I have invited people to local events but the usual
response is, "If I'm not too tired, I'll be there..."

I know how they feel.
I am whupped at the end of the working day too.

I am off work for a few months, but that is not the
norm for the average person...most of them are just
too damned tired to do much other than go to bed
at the end of the day.

I think that is by design.
Keep your populace exhausted with day to
day survival- they are easier to manage that way.

BHN

because the combination of circumstances and stress makes them too tired to care.

Once again, you nailed it.

Redstone

I see that they care and are deeply concerned with the
shifting of the tide, but what is disheartening is their
acceptance of the fact that they are losing their
way of life.
They do care and are frightened and in some cases
"freaking out" about it, but when it comes down
to the bottom line, they are just too tired to fight.
Again, I believe this is "by design."

Keep the people tired and hungry and
they wont have anything left to resist with.

BHN

Redstone

of the working class people . I still run into people who don't care at all , they feel safe and feel 1 dead american is worth 1,000 Iraqis . Even when things are not going all that well in their lives it seems in order to for them to feel better someone has to feel worse , this is in place of actually thinking of one small way they could work with others and actually try to help fix this mess . They channel their energy into hate instead .

I wish I knew a few progressives personally , they may be here but i don't run across any unless i drive past a small corner or an intersection where a few hold signs of protest .

I worked with people who were close to the freak who called into Malloy's show tonight 20th june , and some were completely for this killing . I ended up fired for my views which opposed theirs . Even though they knew me for 12 years and respected my honesty this was not enough . I was not aggressive attacking them , instead i tried to use reason but even though at times they saw my point , all it took was another kill or bush speech to turn that back into hell .

I heard a clip listening to Hartman today , a womens voice on an answering machine broken down loosing her home in two months , I missed the magazine or paper she called into . Now this is not uncommon and so damn sad and anyone of us could end up there .

I agree with the original poster of this topic , it is out there and people are breaking down , it just seems sad enough that it has not affected enough people to set the outrage and sadness in motion . I hope people see this and realize just how fragile this situation is , everything we know has been damaged almost to the point of no return or even already past the point of no return I fear .

We in the USA who care and play by the rules have been bombed and attacked mentally and financially into depression rather than bombed and tortured physically into death and ruin . And yet we have not lost compassion that these right wing freaks never had to begin with .

Americans are overworked on purpose. The thing is to convey is: "You think it bad now?" Imagine 20 years from when your children are working 80 hours a week to save up the 250,000 to put one of your grandkids thru college.

The time to act is now. It's hard to get that thru in a limited time but it's only going to get harder the longer we wait.

the day. I keep asking myself "what's wrong with me?"

Maybe that's the wrong question. I should be asking "what the hell is wrong with this society?"

do we do this to our own children and not fight for them to get rid of this venom that has taken over our country. just makes me shake my head.

it's "god's plan"... any advice on how to counter that will be well received.


-- edited for grammar

And if you want to know why, look at the candidates the Democrats picked the last two times; people who refused to fight. America's young are a generation of serfs, lead by a party of quitters.

BeHereNow

thank you for this OP you are always so thoughtful.

I was talking to someone who has lived in NYC for over 40 years and they said that they don't EVER remember New York being quite so hard. This person is also in Real Estate and said that people are freaking out, buyers keep backing out of deals and sellers are panicking.

more visably in more populated areas-
The more rats to the cage space, the more evident
the symptoms of the dis-ease.
I am in LA, same thing here.
Extremely diverse population, economically
and such and so the impact is extreme and more
evident on a "face to face" scale of the things unfolding.
All I can say is, look out.
It's going to get much worse and I hold no
hope for "better" in our lifetimes.
BHN

Can't remember where.

Battered Citizens Syndrome.

That is exactly what we are seeing.
BCS.

BHN

(that's where i heard it, anyway)

Neither the media nor politicians are aware of how panicky the entire nation is getting, and how much they are on the verge of freaking out from all the damage the Republicans have done and are still doing to this country: the high prices, low wages, depletion of our treasury, shifting the middle class money to the mega-rich, and everything else.

a lot of people in my town of Ohio who voted for
Bush suffering job loss and the repercussions for
selling their country out for a tax cut.
I really can't feel sorry for them.
We all have much to panic about as medical bills
are killing the average american. Let alone the
soaring costs of utilities.
Many of us are worrying about what we will have
to give up or sell off in order to survive.

Beherenow, what a great post and sad and true.

Malloy, as has been said, just read your post.
GREAT JOB!

American needs a shower like the one I just took.
A LONG, HOT SHOWER to wash away the
corruption and abuse of this administration.
If only it were that simple, eh?

Glad to hear Mike shared the post with his listeners.
Hopefully, it was cathartic for some.
I know it helps me to know I am not alone
in my observation of this collective sense of
the destruction and decline of America.

BHN

:thumbsup:

If only we could "wash that man right out of our hair"...it'd be nice if it was that easy, eh? It IS a great post and yes, I could relate to every word.
I still have some Republican friends and they're very, very nervous. Things out here are NOT good. The smart ones understand we ALL have to go along for the ride. The 30% that is clinically unable to alter their views will blame us anyway for the Mother of all Great Depressions. Rush will cheer them on to commit heinous acts of vengeance. They can't change and they'll be nastier, more vindictive and much more dangerous broke.
There's no satisfaction in having known the truth all along, we just had to wait for such a long time to see them all waking up. I guess we'll all help each other through the nightmare that's arrived and is going to get much worse.

Poor Mike, he's angry and despondent at the same time.
I'm glad he read your post. It brought me right over here for a gander. :)

THAT is precisely my fear and I am sure the
neocon plan.
They have created chaos knowing full well that
like the calico cat and gingham (sp?) dog, we will
tear each other apart.
Scary thought, eh?

Happy to hear Mike shared the thread with folks-
I hope it was cathartic for those feeling alone.

I know the discussion has helped me feel less alone.

I've been thinking about it for some time, but didn't really know
how to voice my thoughts until today.

BHN

fog of my....??...not exactly sure what my problem is

probably going through a depression of some sort--

half the time i feel like i'm in a fog
preoccupied
unable to concentrate at times
tired
sad
mentally exhausted
spacey
going through the motions
the anger & passion is ebbing into a sense of sadness

joy is absent
and the world blurrs

and i haven't noticed "the panic of the people"

i really haven't seen them much at all lately (not through my fog, my indifference, my lackadaisical state of mind--it all seems to wash through me)

...I don't think it's unusual with all the horrible news we hear day in and day out. We all have ups and downs and some downright slumps; I hope this is just one of those transitory phases you're experiencing. But just in case this doesn't go away, tell somebody in person how you're feeling. It helps. And the fact that you vented about it is a good sign too. :)
I wish I had a decent joke to tell but I can't think of any right now.
Pickles and Chimpy will be in Yurp tomorrow and we can make fun of them.

Their trip to India was great fodder.


Wherever he goes, it's fun to poke sticks into Lieboy's cage.



Hey, this too shall pass. Honest.

and i bookmarked this--for your words: "Hey, this too shall pass. Honest. "

those simple words really mean a lot.

I personally don't "feel" that yet BUT..im confused. A week ago I went to the local grocery and as I was checking out the cashier and bagger were all amazed that the total came up to 210.00 dollars. All three of us look at each other and couldn't understand what the hell is going on. It just didn't feel like I purchased 210.00 dollars in food.

Doesn't really matter though. Got to feed the family and pets. It just that normal things are becoming a bit confusing. I guess this is the first feeling before the panic.

in the new orleans and gulf coast areas what i see is that all of us know people who have died and people who lost everything, and there seems to be an obligation to keep the spirit up and realize that many many people have it much much worse

sure we are all upset abt the soaring costs of EVERYTHING but you feel guilty if you whine abt it when other people have just buried relatives or have to re-built their entire house or live in a trailer or re-build their entire business

so i would say most people i encounter seem very focused on having a good attitude

panic is useless and it almost seems a little self-indulgent at this time of century

this is a generalization, of course, people do break, like the man who stockpiled weapons in his house the other day, said dick cheney was going to kill him, shot the two police officers, and went out in a hail of bullets himself -- yeah, that's panic all right

but most people realize that panic is just counter productive

Going back to Indiana where the GOP is king, and democrats/progressives are still commie pinko fags.

It has been 2 years since I was in IN, and I'll see if I detect any change. If things are changing there, you know it's unstoppable.

:hi: :pals:

Are you going to Bloomington, by chance?
I'll be in Chicago and Ohio over the next few weeks.
Let us eat REAL TOMATOES and think of one another!
Heh-heh.
Hugs,
BHN

Vine RIPENED tomatoes. Like candy for the uninitiated, like an addiction for those of us who remember...

I will think of you in Bloomington and other parts south.
---

I suppose in my own way I've been feeling what you are talking about too. The repubs at the office are just dead quiet anymore -- no more going around pounding their chests.

I wonder about the national debt, and the falling dollar, and the fact that in our state now people are on average literally spending more than they make. When do the wheels come off this thing? Will it be a quick sudden crash, or do we have enough economic "inertia" that the decline will take a year or more?

I wonder about our morality as a society -- there is little doubt this elimination of the middle class by stealing tax money for the rich leads to the lack of economic opportunity for the lower classes, which has impacts on the education system, and crime rates and quality of life for all but the uber-wealthy.

I wonder about the idiotic war -- what does it take for people to realize that death and harm are not abstractions? Tony Snow so well describes the GOP mindset when he says "2500 is just a number". If they can't even recognize the reality of what they are doing to U.S. citizens, then they certainly can't recognize the reality of the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens. And every family over there that loses a love one to one of our bullets or bombs becomes ever more likely to join up with those who oppose us. I think if the average american could get their heads around this idea, the occupation of Iraq would stand a real chance of ending, and some sort of reparations could begin.

It's all the killing and the neglect of New Orleans and you would think the average citizen of the USA whether left or right would find this as common ground to heal the division we have got now . I just can't seem to get it into my head that anyone outside of the main list of horrid criminals can take sides on this issue of death . Am I blind , am I missing something ? There can't be this many people in this country who are willing to continue sending these people to their deaths . Even if they truly hate the people in Iraq and I personally do not , even if this were the case with these people would it not be enough if their own kind were dying in any war let alone an false lied about attack on an innocent country . Are they so full of hate or fear that sending other americans children off to be slaughtered just seems acceptable ?

I just can't get this into my head , I have to be missing something or I am simply stupid . How can the people in this country still be holding onto fear , we have not been attacked and there is no proof we have and it has been stopped , this is all cheap lies and altered talk and spun out of control . I am more afraid of where this country is headed than i would ever be of a terrorist attack even if I did believe there was ever an attack in the first place which I don't .

No, not stupid. But, some people get stars in their eyes at the very mention of war. They become even more manipulated than usual. Good God Ya'all!

... you'll notice on your local news a recent spike pretty much everywhere in basically senseless and very violent crime - here in Indiana over the past few weeks, we've had a burglar execute 7 family members (including 3 children) in cold blood .... a father take his 2 kids at knifepoint, kill one and try to kill the other ... bank robberies .... the usual quickie mart robberies are turning into shootouts and brutal beatings ... even cases of road rage are turning fatal ...

People are on the edge - mad at something they can't identify because we've been brainwashed by the media for so long that everything's really "great" in BushWorld - and it ain't gonna end up anyplace nice.

:scared:

Seriously, some believe it. Bush is THE self fulfilling prophet.

this thread.

I haven't been posting much, or been on DU much for the past 8 months, due to the VERY SAME PROBLEMS that are being discussed here. There's no time left, and no "disposable" $$ left for a broadband connection, so I have to use the home phone line to get online.

And yet, here I live, in the South, where way too many of my neighbors are the same flag-waving folks who are cheering their team on to the total destruction of our country.

:cry: Depressed? Yep. Disheartened? Panicing? Yep Yep Yep. When you go through the quick check-out line at the grocery store, for 12 items or less, and your bill still comes to the $40 and $50 range, it's too much to comprehend. There is almost NO item on the grocery store shelf that costs less than $3.00. Today I paid $3.39 for a half-gallon of milk. And since I live out in the country (where we grow our own tomatoes ;) ) it cost me a gallon of gas to get to the store & back.

This is life under a republican government. A REPUBLICAN government. We shouldn't let anyone ever forget that small fact.

:kick::kick::kick:

rising prices, government, etc. And it certainly doesn't feel as bad a time economically as in the late 1970's.

A lot more.
And there's good reason to do so:
oil, fuel, electricity, healthcare etc are more expensive now then ever.

but, at least back then there was still a social safety net.

Nowadays you can fall all the way to the bottom of the ladder - it can happen to anyone.

I think that accounts for a lot of the anxiety . We're all living on the edge of financial disaster.

things seem to be going just fine here on the northwest side of chicago...lots of older corner gas stations/repair shops are being replaced with 4 story condo buildings. north park university, swedish covenant hospital cta bus facility- all doing expansions. big new korean community center, a new middle school- LOTS of stuff going on around here.

i have a good friend who lives west of elgin- there are literally thousands of new homes going up all around the once rural subdivision he lives in, including an enclave of a couple dozen new million-dollar-plus custom homes in a large grove of huge oak trees...my friend himself has a business that's doing well(selling plastic resin)- he's having a big remodelling/landscaping project done on his pool area. one of his customers, a plastic products manufacturer who lives nearby, is buying an apartment on chicago's gold coast for his college-bound daughter to live in, and just bought two income properties in a nearby town.

i've definitely lived thru much worse times than these.

not everyone is suffering but be forewarned! The Wall Street Journal published an article on the 18th entitled "The McMansion Glut".....you may find it interesting if not un-nerving. As for your friend, my Ex sold plasticizer for years at Monsanto and then C.P. Hall and other chemical companies.The plastics industry exists at the pleasure of the oil industry. Hopefully, his company has some feedstock or he may be feeling the pinch soon. We're moving back to Texas hill country soon and when my husband builds for us it won't be a huge monster....he can build those for the rich. We're going to be prepared for scarcity of energy,etc. which means concrete,wind turbines and solar panels.

lots of condos, etc. being built. Lot of out of state money coming in and buying up property.

Denver has lost population in each of the last four years. People are moving away - not coming here. I don't know who is going to live in all these new buildings. The whole thing seems to be predicated on the idea that things will get better - there will be a boom. And they're probably right - but that's not helping people here now. Denver is in the top 5 in bank foreclosures - Adams County - Denver burbs - is FIRST in the nation in bank foreclosures.

I don't know - I've lived through some bad times, too. Maybe even worse times - but, I was younger then, with the natural optimism of youth toward the future. The incompetence of the Bush admin, both in foreign and domestic affairs doesn't give me with any hope that things are going to get better.

I see the have's (aka the owners in the ownership society) getting bigger and bigger houses. For some reason, restaurant owners are doing real well and buying houses that are in the high six figures. I also see average houses standing empty. I see a lot of foreclosures nationwide and am hearing rumours that next year we will be seeing them in my town too.

Panicky people are easily led, snowed, lied to. Angry people are not.

Americans from all walks of life are becoming fed up, which is angry. They are not afraid. They are fucking tired of being lied to.

At work, at play, at the grocery store, in traffic, shopping anywhere.

deep, deep in "red" country. :woohoo:

Looking for attention
I can't get any
Everyone looks away
I'm pleading
For someone
For anyone
Look at me!
I'm hurting
Listen to me
Please let me speak
Take me serious
Why won't you believe me?
You're listening but you can't hear me
I'm tearing myself apart inside
I don't show it
But I'm so confused
Always helping others
No one here to help me
I have no release
No one knows how hard it is for me
I feel like I'm wasting my days
Finally I've found a true friend
A simple razor blade
Only a sting
The blood provides peace
At least for a short time
Visible results
Deep red covering the ground
So easy to hide
Long sleeves
Long periods in the bathroom
Becoming habit
Just a small cut
So much pain gone
A simple solution
Makes me feel alive
Reminds me I'm alive
Its so hard to pray
When results don't come
On my time frame
But still I do
I am weak
But He is strong
Father I am here!
Crying, bleeding
Please help me!
I can't on my own
I'm weak
I need help
Someone please
Just help me
In my time of desperation

absolutely fuck all in my pocket, am about six bucks over-limit on my only credit card (thanks to the monthly fee being higher than the minimum payment, which is of course all I've been able to pay lately), and have cashed in all of the loose change I had around the house in order to buy groceries. And I have a "good" job, too. Can't even come close to breaking even these days.

Panic? I don't know...at least I can honestly say I currently have no fear of death...it will be a distinct relief, if things keep up like this. I've heard it said that a happy man is one who does not fear death, so by that definition I'm one happy dude.

I have little now left to loose , what I don't want to loose is the roof over my head we rent . But if a bomb whizzed through the window tonight well then fine lst it end for me . i have a difficult time looking forward with the past and present dragging me down .

I should be making a good income as a nurse.I can't make ends meet on one job,and am looking for a second one.That means time away from my kids,which sucks.

Homebound for the most part, I rarely get out these days, and when I do it's never very far. When we go grocery shopping I've noticed the prices creeping up, a few cents more here and there, it's starting to add up.
Panic, I'm not sure of though, not yet here anyway. They're building new upscale shopping centers near here, I notice when we drive past that the lots are full, though there are spaces in the restaurant parking lot now, I'm not sure if people are tired of them already and have went elsewhere or if they are feeling the pinch.
There is new houses being built, but, the ones for sale are taking longer to sell.
I read the news and I know things aren't good, I don't know where the money is coming from to support the new shops and restaurants, maybe the crunch hasn't hit firmly here yet.

I see lots of people who are so pissed off about the direction we are going . Then you see the angry right standing up and waving their little flags while applauding whackjob haters like Ann Coulter. The country is in trouble when one side is at war with the other. I see more hatred toward each other than at any enemy abroad. (maybe because they did nothing to deserve the invasion) I am part of that. I literally have begun to hate the right wing in this country, and what theyre doing to us.

Quite the juxtaposition to the "brink of poverty"
condition we are discussing on this thread.
It's a GREAT read, truly.
I would be CERTAIN you will find it in the
"greatest threads" section of the site.

BHN
On edit- Here's the link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1472291&mesg_id=1472291

You know, people taking to the streets en masse to shut down the government to protest a bullshit election! That's the change I hope is coming.

I just don't see it though.
I hope I am mistaken, but I see a
nation of cowards who will go down with
barely a whimper.
Not to generalize, but I think people like
you and others here on DU are the exception,
not the majority.
Sad POV, I know, but that is what I see.
BHN

by insane clowns. Every seat has dvd players and most of the passengers are avoiding the problem clearly visible outside the windows by staring intently at the dancing figures on their dvd player. The insane clowns are running a steady stream of bullshit over the intercom about what a great trip this is and how wonderful it will be when we get there and what great service everyone is getting on the bus. The wheels have fallen off. We are plunging down the side of a steep cliff into a black abyss. The clown appointed driver isn't sure what any of the peddles are for, and seems to just enjoy mindlessly spinning the steering wheel. A few passengers are very very scared, some of these are catatonic, others are trying to organize a revolt against the clowns. Every now and then the door opens and one of the passengers is grabbed and tossed off the bus.

Thanks for that.
Great writing.
Perfect summary.
BHN

I've been feeling "it" for a long time now. I've noticed anxiety around my town, but lately it is being masked by the recent arrival of the well off from other states. The area of town we live in is next to hundreds of newly built McMansions and close to shopping for these people and other well off people in town. Before fathers day, my kid and I stopped in at the upscale Hallmark and there were like 20 fathers day card choices left-out of hundreds! I was shocked since I well remember our early years here-late 90s-when the economy here was very much depressed. Back then, after any given holiday, most stores had oodles of holiday leftovers to be had for half price. No longer. The people who have moved into the area have changed it and NOT for the better-the traffic is horrible now-with their big bucks, SUVs and McMansions that they've purchased no doubt from profits from the sale of overpriced houses in other states.

Their "well off" presence has only masked the uneasiness and uncertainty the rest of us are STILL going through, which has only gotten worse since * took office, not better.

It seems to be accelerating too. not just panic but rage of the 'chip on your shoulder' variety.

I have to say i don't hold much faith in the elections coming up , I hope I'm wrong , real wrong .

I can't see anything happening as far as a revolt unless more areas are affected this meaning the coasts where most of the popualtion live and the midwest .

We don't have an obvious break down in southern calif that I can see but it's not an easy task to find work or many jobs that pay more than $10 per hour and the automotive repair field which was my main stay has falled to no jobs and this is not a good sign in an area with so many cars and so much traffic .

Items I have sold on ebay which went in a flash now sit there with few bids if any and I get emails asking after the bid ends if I will sell things for half the price which is a new one on me . These are simply personal items I chose to sell off to make extra money since right now I am not with a job .

It scares the hell out of me although I try to remain sane and focused while I battle daily depression .

listening to malloy's show the last two nights give me the impression Mike is fed up and worried and I certainly don't blame him . If for any reason he were to loose his show what would he do , who would hire him these days the way the radio is going and the repubs have all the stations and clear station is dropping stations .

I know the repubs must have a task force who have the intent and goal to remove and silence AAR and who also work toward attacking the internet blogs . We have then worried and their MO is to destroy anything that stands to threaten them .

So yes I am not settled and I am cencerned and worried , the dems are not helping us they simply do nothing or make it worse by not doing anything but agreeing and letting things go right down the drain .

I really don't think they care , why should they , most are set for life even if you or me end up in the streets they are set and seem to not care one bit . If they did they would get off the collective assess and do something .

I don't see anyway out of this until we hit the streets while we can and deal with it real soon , but I don't see this happening next week or months from now . i don't have any idea how many people in this country even know how bad this is or if they ever read of listen to politics or the issues , They know there is this "war" and feel the need to support it out of fear of another false attack and they will take us all down thinking this shallow .

The only thing they ever hear from their government anymore is the occasional injection of "terraterraterra" to keep them in line and convinced that their only hope of survival is with the republicans. Once that passes, their next concern moves on to the real issues they feel have real impact on their lives -- like what Angeline Jolie will name her new baby, or when will the new Johnny Depp movie come out.

give a rat's ass about what is happening to the
average American.
They are SO removed from reality and all the while they
are stuffing their pockets with corporate payola.
Payola that assures that the outcome of every farce of debate
favors the rich getting richer.
THEY ARE THE RICH, both sides of the aisle!
Their children's children are set for life.

And the poor?
To hell with them/us.

Sorry, but this C-Span "debate" is depressing me
further.
The Dems know DAMNED well that the US plans
to stay in Iraq forever, and yet they stand there
pretending to debate the matter.
It's all such a farce.
Hegel to the max.
BHN

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable."