2020’s Might be the Worst Decade in History

Here’s an article Mauldin wrote in Forbes in 2018:

No, we're on the break of greatness. Madonna knows all about it.

Brink. I'm tired

Damn, it's almost as if it were planned.

The 1920s were a lot more fun.

I think the 1930s and 1940s would disagree with you.

[quote]Massive political backlash brought about by deepening economic inequality.

I still believe most of the reason BLM is getting so much support is because people are subconsciously upset about their own financial stagnation.

Agreed, R7. I agree BLM isn’t just about the perceived disproportionate police brutality against black people (which actually isn’t the case when you adjust for black crime rates). It’s also about addressing systemic and endemic racism that plagues people of color, and stagnant wages, and rising cost of living.

The good news is that Strauss and Howe predicted that whatever political party is in office during 2020, in our case, Republicans, will not occupy the White House for a VERY long time. Given how keenly accurate their other predictions have been, and also considering the current political landscape and demographic trends, I don’t see how Republicans can have a shot at the Presidency at all this decade or even into the next.

PS - I’m a black guy so don’t call me racist because I acknowledge that disproportionate black criminality and violence needs to be addressed.

Its been all downhill since we lost Princess Diana and JFK Jr.

Stop calling nobodies noted economists.

Don't make me quote Billy Joel to you. But it's always shit. You're just paying attention now. We didn't start the fire.

The probability of the Cold War with China turning into a Hot War this decade is also becoming more likely. China’s bullying in the South China Sea and/or an attempted invasion of Taiwan could set off a violent war in the Western Pacific.

If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be having to wear a mask everywhere. I tell you, you were crazy.

The climate would like to have a word with "the 2030's will be great"

[quote][bold]2020’s[/bold] Might be the Worst Decade in History

Paging the apostrophe police.

Disappointing how no one wants to have serious, meaningful discussion on this board.

Maybe discussing such a depressing topic at a time when so many people already feel beaten down just isn't very appealing right now, R19.

^^ Sorry, R15.

Universal basic income will become standard monetary policy this decade. With automation taking low-skilled jobs, it’s the only way to support an increasingly large percentage of the populace.

Just like social security seemed radical in the early 1920’s, UBI seemed radical and absurd just three years ago, but it’s coming.

R18 Well you can forget about it under a Trump presidency with Republicans in office. And Biden said it would "strip people of their dignity." The coronavirus may have an impact on his position, though.

Trump isn’t going to be re-elected, R19. And it’s unlikely Republicans will occupy the White House for a very long time. UBI is coming because it’s the only solution that will address rising inequality and a lack of low-skilled jobs.

A UBI is not going to solve everyone's problems. They may get a check to keep them afloat but sitting around aimlessly perusing social media is not going to make people better off.

Isolationism and depression will still affect a lot of people if they don't have job that give their life meaning (real or imaginary). People need to feel like they have a stake in the game.

You think depression and isolate doesn't affect the employed R21? Most of us are not lucky enough to have a job which gives our life meaning. We are just miserable at work instead of miserable at home.

Trying one last time... the article below posits that the “Fourth Turning” we’re currently experiencing with all its chaos and uncertainty is, for most people, a once in a lifetime, historical event. Things will never go back to the way they were prior to the pandemic.

More astoundingly, the article suggests that COVID may not even be the real catalyst that brings about change—another tragic or upending event could be in the cards in the first half of this decade.

Come on, there have to be people on this board who want to have serious conversations, ones that don’t revolve around celebrities and dick pics.

JFK Jr was our last hope to have a great President again. It just doesn't matter anymore.

[quote]Come on, there have to be people on this board who want to have serious conversations, ones that don’t revolve around celebrities and dick pics.

Um, nope.

There are so many catastrophes happening in slow motion at the moment that it might be decades or centuries to see the 2020s as the worst decade. The full dawn of horrified realisation in environmentalist circles began at least 20 years ago but in general people haven’t confronted what is really going on around them.

When I want to be especially depressed I go onto reddit and read the research articles on climate change. It’s just page after page and very little commentary.

Someone on this board mentioned the billions of extra plastic pollution in the form of pandemic PPE. Now residing in waterways or garbage dumps and on its way into forests and oceans.

I think we have another 2 pandemics coming this decade—WHO believes our use of factory farming is setting us up for more frequent SARS-like events.

Bring on the dick pics.

Talk about predictions, [R21]: in the future of the Judge Dredd comics, school just teaches hobbies because 99% will be unemployed for life!

I used to think that the “indispensable great man” theory of history was bullshit, but the older I get the more inclined I am to believe there’s something to it. Most people are selfish and timid sheep who are too mean or too terrified to imagine a better future until a transformative leader forces it on them. World governments have embraced Modern Monetary Theory in the last few months, and just yesterday the World Bank called for sovereign debt forgiveness. Of course if AOC or Bernie Sanders or someone like that had called for these policies 6 months ago, most people would’ve called them crazy (“You don’t understand how economics works!”). I don’t think anything is going to change until we get another radical FDR type leader who understands the scope of the problem and actually leads rather than listening to conventional wisdom. The fact that we’re having arguments about whether to provide free preschool for everyone or forgive all student loan debt is so fucking insane right now. It will seem to future generations just like the insanely stupid arguments in the 1930s about whether we should provide a small universal pension for seniors, or let them starve to death.

R4 predictive programming is a thing it seems