tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977100937974295832.post2436295623248518495..comments2023-10-03T12:32:51.778-04:00Comments on Confessions of a Street Pharmacist: Decline and fall of empiresDivemedichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14583007051962299381noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977100937974295832.post-56585238343844174142012-05-30T16:40:26.545-04:002012-05-30T16:40:26.545-04:00There are a couple of things that keep me awake so...There are a couple of things that keep me awake some nights. <br /><br />The first is that the world economy depends on the US, even though that becomes less true every day. The next world power looks to be China. That is not surprising, since the Chinese have taken the long view for centuries. Of course, India is a powerhouse as well, but much of their income is derived from the US. Invasion is not a real concern at this point, because neither has the sealift capability to pull that off, unless China wants to slog through Russia and across the Bering straight, but given how that would upset a nuclear armed Russia, that is a low probability.<br /><br />The second is the realization that the world will be plunged into poverty for decades. Who knows what that will mean.<br /><br />The last is the realization that every sector of government and every person in government will want to maintain or gain power. The 1991 Soviet coup was nearly successful. We could see a powerful military/police attempted coup, which if successful would mean a military/police state dictatorship, and if not successful, would mean anarchy.Divemedichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14583007051962299381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977100937974295832.post-78634562833177583032012-05-30T14:19:05.936-04:002012-05-30T14:19:05.936-04:00Excellent post, as usual. I quoted you at length i...Excellent post, as usual. I quoted you at length in <a href="http://newatlantean.com/2012/05/30/this-is-the-end-my-only-friend-the-end/" rel="nofollow">my own post on the subject</a>.<br /><br />What are your thoughts on what it'll be like to go through this crash? The thing that sticks in my mind is that it'll be substantially harder for anyone than previous collapses, because though we're weak we're still at the center of the world economy. China's tottering faster than we are, as is europe -- once we go down, I fear everyone will crash at the same time and things will be unpleasant.Robert Heweshttp://www.newatlantean.comnoreply@blogger.com