Late to the party, but……….

I’ve got a brother in law, 36 years old, has worked approximately five out of the last 18 years, who outwardly says that as long as he’s being supported by his parents he’ll get up every day at noon and drink beer and smoke cigarettes and drive his jet ski and has no desire to work. His parents know he has this attitude and do nothing but continue supporting him. Of course he keeps on keeping on. He doesn’t live in a cause and effect universe, there are no negative consequences to his behavior, so there’s no reason to stop. Many in our society are like that kid, with government fulfilling the role of parent.

As far as collapse goes, the commenters above who’ve seen it coming for years were right, but you really didn’t have to look that hard. One commenter wrote that our politicians have been telling us beautiful lies about how things can always be great and that material goods and income security can be had forever despite changing world circumstances and events. It changed a long time ago – the idea that these things are birthrights was never right and the society built on that notion began coming off the rails after the oil shocks of the 1970′s, but most people stuck their fingers in their ears and shouted LA-LA-LA instead of doing something about it.