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Originally posted by getreadyalready
That says a lot about how bad things have become, because at this point, even the unknown is better than the status quo. If a leader emerged with even an inkling of a good clear global picture that would put us back through the looking glass and into a livable reality, that leader would be immortalized the world over and handed the keys to the UN. That is where we are going. Just the right leader will emerge at just the right time, and we will all be taken in. Can anyone say antiChrist?
Some fear the world faces a systemic rise in anger, protest and political volatility that could last years or even decades.
Some believe the current anger against autocrats, bankers and elites is a symptom of fundamental shifts in the structure of global populations.
In the Middle East and North Africa, one of the key drivers has been a large bulge in the youthful population struggling to find work. An educated, westernized group using social media tools to coordinate got protests started, quickly joined by broader masses angry at rising food prices.
In western states, there are strains caused by an aging population that is driving up government costs, reducing growth and blocking jobs from younger people.
At worst, some experts warn that could produce an economic malaise that lasts for decades.
"It is these demographic issues that are driving much of what we are seeing at the moment," said George Mason University's Goldstone.
"It makes politics very unpredictable. You can get paralysis, but you can also see dramatic shifts in policy to left or right. You can see the rise of ideologues as we saw in the 1930s. We are very much at the beginning of this."
But you don't need me to tell you that these are awful times, economically, for many Americans. And that opens up a kind of ugly space. A space where people are looking for Messianic leaders, if you like.