Honestly i think we are screwed.

This whole credit crunch crap is just getting worse and worse.

I don't work (im 15) so it doesn't directly affect me but there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

I honestly believe this whole situation has the potential to end in WW3....

Perhaps not WW3.... but seriously i think shots will be fired..

Well they already have but i mean closer to home (EU and USA).

Does anyone else see where i am coming from or even agree with me?

It will involve new wars, of course.

The largest means of obtaining new finances in history have been to invade other countries and take their natural resources, or find new means of financing the goverment (more taxes or coin/print new money).

Both of these means have caused wars. WWII was started when Japan tried to invade China, because Japan was running out of natural resources (and still is).

Germany went through a hyperinflation, before WWII started, and because of the inflation, Hitler wanted to put the blame on the bankers.

Once we have secured enough oil from the Middle East, we can slow down this debt, but no amount of money in the world will fix it, if we continue to allow banks to cause inflation.

all i know is that its gonna get alot worse before it gets better. and eventually it will. i doubt its gonna go to as serious as ww3 but it will be a bumpy ride.

reply to post by Gregor100


I'm going to make what might be an unpopular statement and may sound condescending, but whatever. You're 15... you shouldn't be worrying about this crap right now. Spend the energy on school, keep your grades up, get yourself a free ride through college, and then work on worrying about and hopefully solving the world's problems then. Enjoy your remaining handfull of years when you honestly don't have to worry about the troubles of the world because you'll never get them back. The global economy and US economy are truly two things that you can do absolutely NOTHING about before you are old enough to vote, and even then your impact will be almost negligible barring you going above and beyond and doing something spectacular.

Worry only about that which you can change. Keep your eyes open and learn everything about this that you can, definitely, but don't let it crush your dreams and your (hopefully still) youthfull optimism! You're still at a point in your life where you should be able to let go of all the world's trivails at the drop of a hat and have fun with your friends, relax, and enjoy life. Take advantage of that fact because as soon as you get out into the world and have a career, a family, kids, bills, etc you lose that luxury surprisingly fast and, I speak from experience when I say this, you will spend a long time kicking yourself if you look back on these years and wish you'd spent more time enjoying the relative freedom from worry & responsibillities that effect others.

Now, do you homework and get good grades!

reply to post by burdman30ott6


I was going to post almost the very same thing .....to this young man ..
You beat me to it ..

Let us adults deal with the really big stuff ...you just dont worry ok ..

Glenn Beck is speaking right now about hyperinflation and the prospect of martial law here in the United States, with the EUROPacific president.

They admit this sounds like "Crazy Town USA" kind of talk...but it's so evident now, that even mainstream television media covers it.

Wild.

To burdman30ott6 and Simplynooone:

I must respectfully yet strongly disagree with your messages to the OP. When I was his age many decades ago I was interested in all sorts of "adult" things like politics, religion, philosophy, the true nature of what's going on behind the scenes...in many ways I was naive and foolish but the interests I began in my adolescence laid the groundwork for later intellectual and moral development as an adult.

One should never encourage the young to stop being curious or stop exploring. This kid is interested in finding out the real truth about things...I think that's wonderful. Would you rather have tomorrow's adults drooling at the TV? I think adolescence is the perfect time for reading, exploring, learning, trying to piece it all together. Of course he should be working on getting good grades and so on but that in no way means he can't explore intellectually on his own.

And...the youth of today are going to have big problems to deal with in 15 or 20 years. They might as well get used to thinking about it.

I applaud the OP's curiosity.

reply to post by silent thunder


Please reread what I posted to him (her?).
"Keep your eyes open and learn everything about this that you can, definitely, but don't let it crush your dreams and your (hopefully still) youthfull optimism!"

I agree 100% that teenagers should certainly keep up to date with the world and absorb everything the can like a sponge. But I don't believe that they should allow that knowledge to turn into gnawing worry about their futures because that worry is unproductive and changes nothing. Statements like "we're screwed" by the OP indicate that the intellectual exploration has turned into fear and worry, which is not worth taking on at such an age.

reply to post by silent thunder



I hear ya ...I just dont want him to get all worried ..they already have so much to worry about as it is ...peer pressure etc .....
I know that young ones could very well be the ones who lead us adults around in these times ..(A Child shall lead them) ....

If you are fifteen, you are hitting this thing at just the right time. About the time you are graduating from college, this will be a distant memory and things will be booming.

The worst thing you could do would be to let this sort of thing get you down so much that you lose motivation. Don't let the doomsayers bother you. The world is yours for the taking. So take it.

Originally posted by Gregor100
I don't work (im 15) so it doesn't directly affect me but there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel.

The voice of optimism, or the voice of change?

When the voice of injustice is loud enough, things will change.

Things do not change, when good men, do nothing.

I applaud your perspective for a 15 year old. Your bombardment from the media is considerably more then those of us much older then you when we were your age.

Everything has its season. Until then, do the best that you can, for all whom you can.

Peace


[edit on 13-10-2008 by HIFIGUY]

I knew i shouldnt have stated my age, it just puts it off topic :/

Oh well. At least you'r not all fags who are like "gtfo lololol".

The point i am putting across is the same whether i am 5 or 55.

I am not worrying because even if there are wars i won't be involved.... Its actually quite funny how just because i am 15 you are all talking about peer pressure etc. etc. I didnt join ATS for a father figure....Think back to when you were 15.....

And its not going to de-motivate me at all. I know what i want to do and exactly how i am going to do it! I might sound like a bit of an arrogant kid who thinks he knows it all here but hey... each to their own...

This is a psych thread in the global meltdown forum.........just kidding..


It is wild how a thread on ATS can become interesting through so many different avenues.

I am always amazed at the honesty of our younger citizens as well as a rather new lens with witch to judge things by.

In my opinion , bad as it may be, I find age has a lot to do with a outlook upon world events and I glean much from listening to the conversations of my 6 year old, my 21 year old and my 19 year old daughters.

My older daughters are much more educated then the old man and they see the world in a most amazing way.

To hear the OP say we are screwed shows to me that he has internalized an world event which can be very good.

If I was a 15 year old OP with an appetite for politics today would be a good day to write a letter to Congress or Parliment and place his voice where it can be heard by others in power.

I must applaude this thread as it shows how the events as seen here on ATS are allowing younger folks to express that which is needed and kin toward an democratic undertaking.

(now tell me to shut up and drink my beer and watch my football like my daughters do)

edit spelling..told ya my daughters are more educated then the old man

[edit on 14-10-2008 by whiteraven]

posted twice by the powers of the gods of the internet...lol

...sorry for posting twice I ust have hit enter twice or something

[edit on 14-10-2008 by whiteraven]

I starred the posts both from burdman and from silent thunder! I think both made valid comments even though their advice came from opposite angles. I suppose a balanced life-style that involves getting to grips with life above and beyond your immediate environment while also enjoying the good things in life is what makes for a wholesome human being.

Gregor, you've shown further maturity by not taking offence. I think some just feel the weight of these issues enormously as they affect their mortgages and pensions, etc., and they just wanted to say "Give yourself a break!"

It's good that some have the wherewithal to get their heads around the bigger picture even in their younger years. Independent research and thinking will get you a long way.

You've actually brought a smile to my face by reminding me of William Hague:

He first made the national news at the age of 16 by speaking at the Conservative Party's 1977 national conference...

Source: en.wikipedia.org...

You can probably dig up his speech on YouTube if you're interested. And it was a sign of things to come...

Subsequently, Hague went to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was President of both the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA) and the Oxford Union, a noted route to political office[citation needed]. Hague studied PPE at Oxford, graduating with first-class honours...

...Following the 1997 general election defeat, Hague was elected as the leader the Conservative Party in succession to John Major, defeating more experienced figures such as Kenneth Clarke and Michael Howard. At the age of 36, Hague was tasked with rebuilding the Conservative Party by attempting to build a more modern image...

A spectacular rise, although in the end he wasn't particularly successful. Maybe he should have developed his outside interests a bit more.

As to the topic in hand: I'm not sure about WWIII, but financial Armageddon is a realistic possibility. Cue loss of savings, pensions, jobs and social cohesion.

Problem is, when things get that bad governments love nothing more than to divert attention via some hair-brained foreign escapade. Some would even say the electorate might turn very militant and refuse to be diverted, thus kicking off serious trouble on the home front.

Let's hope it's just a nightmare, and nothing more.

If you are 15, let me give you some sage advice. Do NOT buy into the global gloom and doom message that seems to enjoy being spread around. Guess what... things have been very bad before, and in fact, much worse. I don't see why a financial crisis would end in a world war, that doesn't make a lot of sense. If anything, we've seen countries trying to work together to fix the problem. There are plenty of great things to be encouraged by, and to work towards. Avoid spending all your time on sites like this, seriously. They will fill you with a sense of hopelessness, doom, and despair. According to this site, we are slated not only to be ruined by the economy, but WWIII is coming, reptile aliens are eating us in underground bases, a huge brown sun is going to mostly destroy our planet in 2012, a super secret new world order goverment is going to take over everything, and if you keep reading, you can find some really great theories about how screwed we are.

Things are not rosey, there are wars, economic turmoil, and terrible governments that do wicked things to their people. People don't really realize how good we have it. The fact that you can post here on an Internet board from a computer means you are leaps and bounds above most countries.

Be wary, sure. Be prepared, but don't buy into everything you read, it will only drag you down. Be hopeful, encouraged, and positive. Moods spread. Panic begets panic. Hope begets hope. Be a positive force, not a negative one. And go visit some more cheerful sites..

Originally posted by Gregor100

I knew i shouldnt have stated my age, it just puts it off topic :/

Oh well. At least you'r not all fags who are like "gtfo lololol".

The point i am putting across is the same whether i am 5 or 55.

I am not worrying because even if there are wars i won't be involved.... Its actually quite funny how just because i am 15 you are all talking about peer pressure etc. etc. I didnt join ATS for a father figure....Think back to when you were 15.....

And its not going to de-motivate me at all. I know what i want to do and exactly how i am going to do it! I might sound like a bit of an arrogant kid who thinks he knows it all here but hey... each to their own...

Your age is not off-topic.
Gender/sex, yes; nationality, probably - but age, no.

It's precisely because I have a very fresh and vivid memory of myself at your age (and I wasn't a very "typical" teenager either) that I am telling you this. I was almost SURE I wouldn't live to age twenty-five, the way things were going - or so I thought...

I am not saying that you're seeing things worse than they are; but I do think you're seeing all of us, including yourself, as being more helpless than we really are.
And that, of course, has a HUGE impact on your outlook.

That's basically all I wanted to say.
And listen to the advice of the kind uncles here - they know what they're saying!

(No irony intended. They really DO. :-))





[edit on 14-10-2008 by Vanitas]

You were obviously in school before me and (unless you have children) have no idea how much it has changed.

We get all this nanny culture crap rammed down our throats on a daily basis. The whole "you have a voice" lecture is something we get weekly in "social education" (which i personally find irritating and useless). Yes we have a voice but realistically we all know it is very small and unlikely to be heard.

We are over protected and it's just ridiculous. I read in another thread about the "no pupil gets left behind" policy. It is the same tactic that made the Battle of Mogadishu such a failure so why repeat it in education? Incase you don't know what i mean i am talking about the less able pupils. Fair enough its unfair but one or two can hold back twenty or thirty others. Common sense is being replaced with equality.... It is just not right.

I think the reaction to my age in this thread is a perfect example of what assumptions are made of adolescents (especially males) these days. I am not offended at this, it just confirms my opinions on how minors are seen nowadays due to a minority of idiots who get wasted and start fights.

[edit on 15/10/08 by Gregor100]

i would not be suprised if we had WWIII it's soo sad, but sooo possible.

reply to post by Gregor100


Just to get back on topic, what were you referring to here? -

Perhaps not WW3.... but seriously i think shots will be fired..

Well they already have but i mean closer to home (EU and USA).

And how do you see things panning out in the short to medium term?