An Age of Strife

[Verbal Mike]

You can think of this thread as a child of Payne's opensource OMF discussion, or of Cram's thread about Discordia's relevance today. Or you can think of it as its own thread. It is a thread, that's for sure.

We are in a unique position in history, my friends.
We have something resembling a message, or at least an assortment of messages, and we are standing before what will certainly be a troubled time, and may well prove an era of rapid, violent change. If the world economy goes entirely pear-shaped, disillusionment and doubt will be widespread. It will be, to put it shortly, the kind of time when things change. It will in no certain terms be the Season of Aftermath.

The Great Depression gave birth to Fascism and Communism.
If we fuck this Meltdown hard enough, what crazy mutant child can it bring forth?

[LMNO]

If we fuck this Meltdown hard enough, what crazy mutant child can it bring forth?

Delusions of grandeur?






Sorry, I lived through the S&L bailout.  Call me cynical.

[Dr Goofy]

We had a recession a while back... remember Reagan... nothing happened back then. If anything the Emo's will probably gain power.

[AFK]

People have no connection to this meltdown.  They hear the $1 Trillion bailout but there is no connection to that cost.  It is far removed and it's like it's happening to other Americans, not them.  Sorry, I don't see anything changing.  People can't be arsed to turn away from their Dancing with the Starz to even work up a mild case of angst about the situation. 

[LMNO]

We had a recession a while back... remember Reagan... nothing happened back then. If anything the Emo's will probably gain power.

Actually, the underground DIY scene flourished under Reagan, and that's one of my favorite genres... Maybe Emo will take the makeup and false angst, and transform it into something better.

[Verbal Mike]

Umm, you guys think this shit is over? I'm under the impression it's only just starting. Not gonna feign knowing a lot about how this stuff works, but as I understand it the toxic debt is still out there and the entire system is extremely shaky... Even if things have cooled down for the moment.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Verb, that's my read as well.

First, the government is gonna have to assign a value to the toxic loans. Right now, the market vaule for them is at $0.00 since no one is willing to buy. Each investment bank has been MAKING UP VALUES for these, this entire time. While one bank may say its worth 80% of the face value, another may say its worth 8%. he government has to come up with some way of giving them a value that is not too low (or the bank will still fail) or too high (cause then they'll have lots of worthless shit, that they paid OUR tax money for).

On top of that Morgan Stanley is gonna get regulated like a regular bank now, rather than an investment bank. That means they'll have a much lower risk profile and they'll actually have to have capital, rather than paying for investments with loans. This means profit margins are gonna be tiny in comparison to the last 8 years or so... and all of the CxO's are gonna get much smaller paychecks.

Further, with the death of high risk investment banking, there will be a lot fewer loans...

And, even with the bailout, there are still poison loans out there.

I would imagine we'll see some rather grim days still ahead.

[Payne]

(Communism, by the way, had nothing to do with the Great Depression, nothing at all)

I think that if (when) the next truly hard times fall on us, in the same vein as the Great Depression, we may well be too busy worrying about ourselves to be worrying about birthing a new mass-appeal philosophy into the public consciousness.

There will be a great number of opportunities, but they will be fleeting "grab-em-while-you-can!" moments, more suited to individuals or very small groups.

[Verbal Mike]

Right about Communism, I knew something was fucked up in that sentence. Feel really stupid right now.

And I guess you're right, Payne, but it still might be worth a moment to think about how our projects will look under the conditions of a Depression. Or in other words, how we can best grab those opportunities as they present themselves.

[Payne]

As I see it, it's all about recognising an opportunity when it presents itself, and then having the balls to seize it.

You need to define your goals, and look out for any little thing that helps you to achieve them.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

As I see it, it's all about recognising an opportunity when it presents itself, and then having the balls to seize it.

You need to define your goals, and look out for any little thing that helps you to achieve them.

100% TROOF

[Cain]

According to strategic government reports, you will most likely see in the future

independent city states
urban warfare
a resurgence of Marxism/Anarchism (likely led by Autonomism)
a resurgence of political Islam
a resurgence of sub-national tribal loyalties
some really pissed off individuals who can and will quite likely win wars against governments, one way or another

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

According to strategic government reports, you will most likely see in the future

independent city states
urban warfare
a resurgence of Marxism/Anarchism (likely led by Autonomism)
a resurgence of political Islam
a resurgence of sub-national tribal loyalties
some really pissed off individuals who can and will quite likely win wars against governments, one way or another

[Faust]

According to strategic government reports, you will most likely see in the future

independent city states
urban warfare
a resurgence of Marxism/Anarchism (likely led by Autonomism)
a resurgence of political Islam
a resurgence of sub-national tribal loyalties
some really pissed off individuals who can and will quite likely win wars against governments, one way or another

Not to mention huge religious revivial, If things ever get bad enough I intend to build up my defences through relgious zeal.
People will go out of their way to take care of you if they think you hold the ticket to their religious salvation.

[the last yatto]

They hear the $1 Trillion bailout but there is no connection to that cost. 

i think thats why someone i forget who, compaired it to buying every american 2,000 apple pies from mcdonalds