Why are so many here gleeful that the economy is collapsing?

[Taverner]

Do you really relish in the fact that millions of families will be out of work, homeless and starving?

Do you really enjoy the fact that most people will end up on their asses while the CEO's will fly off to Uruguay with their billions?

Do you really feel its right to punish America because 51% voted for Bush?

I just don't get your particular brand of schadenfreude...

[robinlynne]

1. Who are you talking to?

[Taverner]

2. Just go through the posts - some DUers are absolutely ESTATIC the economy is crumbling

[aquart]

30. Do you have links? Examples?

Or simply an inability to process gallows humor?

[lonestarnot]

56. No?

I didn't think so. :eyes:

[Taverner]

65. Why should I call out other DU'ers when that would get this thread banned?

[Usrename]

73. Michael Moore explains it pretty well here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4507740

[Two Americas]

85. don't call out DUers

Cite the arguments you object to.

[tavalon]

69. I think that would be the "it's better to be right than happy" contingent.

[Two Americas]

86. oh come on

You cannot fault people for studying, thinking and learning and that could of course lead to them "being right."

How can any sober and informed observer of what is happening in the country be happy about it?

Sometimes telling the truth and means telling people unpleasant things, and yes, means "being right." Sometimes anger or sadness or depression are sane responses to horrific conditions. Merely "being happy" does not make those horrific conditions disappear.

[Two Americas]

84. where?

I have never seen that.

I have seem callousness and cruelty expressed toward the poor, toward Union members, and toward the those who are suffering the most. Is that what you are talking about?

[eleny]

3. I'm not rejoicing

But if it had to happen I'm glad it's on W's watch. No way he can run from this even though his low profile is an attempt to shrink into a corner hoping nobody notices.

This inevitable crash belongs t the Republicans lock, stock and barrel.

[Taverner]

5. Yes, but the folks who pay will be US

Not them

So why are you glad its happening at all?

[eleny]

34. Did you not read my subject header?

And the rest of my reply?

I said that it was inevitable. And don't kid yourself, we've been nail biting around here for a year over how it was coming any time soon.

It's not a good thing. But if it happened six months from now, even the day after the Inauguration, they would blame Obama with it.

[HughBeaumont]

89. That's not true.

The Reich Wing is ALREADY trying to saddle the Bewsh Reaganomicollapse on Obama!! Particularly Hannity.

[Fire1]

36. Don't believe it. Repuks found ways to blame the economy on

Bill Clinton before the primaries. When faced with that kind of stupidity, remember the names Gramm, Bliley and Rove.

[eleny]

42. Well, sure, they'll try

[Angleae]

77. All they have to do

is point out that the democrats have been in control of congress for two years. Also if the economy hasn't rebounded by march, Obama will be blamed for not doing anything.

[eleny]

79. They're already trying that tactic and the public isn't buying it

Obama got elected and the Dems gained seats in the House and Senate despite the negativity.

I think you're off base about how the public will react come March given how the election turned out. The Republican Party is falling apart at the seams. They have a very tiny, weakened ledge on which to stand and shout about Dems.

I trust that Obama is smarter than you and I put together and will outwit the Republicans and barrel forward with his plans. They can try to stand in the way. But a popular president plus congressional majorities is a formidable freight train traveling at high speed.

I'm not going to buy into every shred of negative thinking I read here at DU. We worked hard for this election and I'm going to keep the faith, maintain my sense of hope and take a breather from hand wringing for a month.

[valerief]

4. You mean the RW invaders? The ones with all the Hillary posts? They're not real.

They're visiting aliens from the RW Hell. They surround us everywhere, even on DU.

[Taverner]

6. I honestly wonder if that's the case

All the gravedancers seem to be trolls of some sort

[valerief]

8. Definitely. They're not real. They're just trying to make DU look bad. nt

[fascisthunter]

12. I figured that as well

All that effort, though???? What a waste of time... :crazy:

[sarcasmo]

105. In the last two months there have been a high amount of new posters.

It was really bad leading up to the election.

[NEDem]

11. I don't know

I think you'll find a whole bunch of un-educated posers running around in their Che' T-shirts thinking that our economic collapse is a good thing. Not realizing that it's the middle and lower class that is going to suffer, the rich aren't going to be hurt from this.

[Taverner]

17. And MOSTLY the middle class

They are the ones who suffer every time there is a downturn

Of course, when there is an upturn, they don't benefit

[NEDem]

21. The income gap

between the classes is growing everyday. Everyday the market tanks the middle class losses more ground as a percentage of income than the rich, the lowest income worker falls even farther behind the middle class. We need to do whatever it takes to get this mess turned around.

[Taverner]

23. Very true

Of course, you have two vocal groups now, neither of them speaking for the middle class.

[NEDem]

28. Yeah, but I think we have someone,

I'm just worried how much damage will be done before he takes over on Jan 20th.

Maybe I'm a dreamer, but I think he'll stand up for us.

[Taverner]

32. I think he will too

But even the greatest experts can't put a shattered crystal vase back together again...

[Two Americas]

87. there is no middle class

we are down to about 10% of the people who can be called "middle class" in the way that was meant 30-40 years ago.

[Two Americas]

88. what???

I have seen no such "bunch."

[girl gone mad]

93. Where does that myth come from?

The myth that the rich aren't going to be hurt, that is?

I can tell you for a fact that many rich people have been hurt by this crash. Many rich people were ruined by the depression. Lots of them ended up penniless. The wealthy may be better hedged, but a number of them have already lost very near their entire fortunes.

[valerief]

107. Just watch a single episode of any ot those Rich Housewives From (Wherever).

Fuck 'em all.

[Joe the Liberal]

7. Im not at all gleeful that the economy is collapsing....

I don't know what you're talking about. There is nothing we can do about it.

[Taverner]

10. Sure there is - start a community fund

Plant a vegetable garden
Join a co-op
Carpool to work
Sell your second car
Don't just recycle, reUSE

[jwirr]

40. Many of us are already doing those things - I don't think those things

are going to stop the meltdown. Everything I do is not going to help me go out and buy more which would help the economy - I am so broke right now that I will literally never pay off my debts - I will owe money to the day I die. I don't want the system to tank but at my level I am only feeling the effects not making it happen.

[Taverner]

48. Oh sure we can't stop their meltdown, but maybe we could stop ours

[jwirr]

50. I am working on it but my assessment was me being realistic.

[kickysnana]

9. We just want the rape to be over, not the sex. n/t

[Taverner]

13. As long as you breathe and pay taxes, you will be raped

At least the dems offer condoms

The GOP does not

[Ecumenist]

14. Um, like who has given you the impression that anyone of us are

gleeful that the economy is collapsing? Who are you talking to who expresses happiness over the woe of a people and their fellow man?

[Taverner]

18. Dude, I'm not calling folks out

Just pointing out what I see

[Ecumenist]

37. I'm not a dude, I'm female. I was simply asking who was celebrating

crash of the economy because you seemed to be insistent on a number of people being "G-L-E-E-F-U-L " over the looming economic disaster.

[mike_c]

15. there is glee and there is glee....

No one is happy that folks are suffering-- only a sociopath would feel that way. But that doesn't preclude recognition that the U.S. economy was badly run. Some of us have been predicting this collapse for YEARS, while most folks just ignored the danger or exploited it for their own profit. You cannot say you were never warned, even if you chose to pretend otherwise.

The political and economic reality is that a collapse is the only real way to create opportunities for change and improvement. I wish it wasn't so, but it is. And yes, I will welcome real, significant change in our economic system.

But here's another warning. I don't think people have had enough hard times yet or that they're ready to commit to fundamental economic change, so I predict that the best we'll see are band-aid approaches designed to ease the pain and reestablish the status quo, the bail out approach-- and that it will all fail again, probably worse.

[Taverner]

19. "You cannot say you weren't warned"

Um, yeah I can

The 'warnings' were lumped alongside the stories of grey people in UFO's, and proof that the Moon landing was faked.

You can't tell me the average American should have had the foresight to go through the litany of conspiracy theories and chosen this one to be true.

[mike_c]

31. dude, lots of knowledgable people predicted that the bubble economy...

...was unsustainable. Understanding that, or at least being cognizant of the risks, isn't "selecting a conspiracy theory." My god, the top product this country produces is DEBT! People simply didn't want to pay attention.

Here's another conspiracy theory to scoff at: we're going to run out of oil, too.

[Taverner]

33. Ahh peak oil

Yes we will run out of oil

In our lifetimes

But the math the peak oil uses is beyond bullshit

The idea that once you hit 'peak' all extraction is unprofitable - that's just three card monte

[crispini]

38. That's not what peak oil says, and I've just glanced at it.

There is a peak beyond which extraction becomes more and more difficult.

Peak oil is not the end of all oil, just the climax of our "easy" access to oil.

[neverforget]

82. Oil is infinite and shall remain cheap forever and ever, Amen.

:sarcasm:

[Taverner]

35. And lots of knowledgable people predicted the economy would slow, not crash

And lots of knowledgeable people predicted the economy would hit rough patches, but not CRASH

[NMDemDist2]

63. IIRC we were praying for a 'soft landing' in 2006

seems FSM choose the harder way for us.

[Sinti]

41. Conspiracy theories???????? That's ridiculous.

Common sense would tell you that the current economy could not sustain itself. Anyone who was listening would have known this was coming for more than 10 years now. Warren Buffet, that tin-foil hat wearing maniac, was trying to raise red flags back in 2003 - and it was already so far along it was nearly inevitable then. This was far from unexpected.

You cannot, under any circumstances, continue to feed the top more, and more, and more and maintain any kind of equilibrium. There's nothing left on the bottom to give to the parasite that's been draining us. So here we are, steps away from the grave. Top heavy economies crash, period, end of story. That's what happened, and you could see it a mile away. If you say you weren't warned, you haven't been paying attention for a decade or more.

Hopefully, we can get this thing restructured in a more sustainable fashion

FWIW, I'm pretty sure no one (at least no one in their right mind) wants things to get any worse. There have been a few "I told you so" moments, but I've seen more conversations about how to live through the hard times, and help others do the same. Maybe that's just the side of the cube I choose to look at.

[earth mom]

64. Yep, it's just common sense to know that minimum wage jobs will NOT sustain our economy.

Hell, I've know that since Reagan started destroying unions and promoting a service economy.

This country has been doomed to fail ever since then.

[NMDemDist2]

62. I'm an average person

who happens to read DU's Economy forum.

I sold out in PHX in 5/2006, took the money and ran, paid cash for my cheaper place here and started to learn gardening.

cuz I couldn't ignore the warnings, they were broad and stark.

the only other place I went then was DrHousingBubble.com. Between the two sites, I had all the info I needed.

[girl gone mad]

74. That's crazy talk.

Dozens of intelligent, educated, perfectly sane economists and analysts were predicting a major recession, at the least.

We've been talking about it here for years. I ran a credit/housing bubble blog for years and did interviews with many brilliant economic thinkers. The only people minimizing the crisis were political partisans and industry hacks. Unfortunately, they've run our mainstream media for decades now.

[snappyturtle]

16. I haven't seen anything but concern here on DU about the financial mess. nt

[Taverner]

20. Look harder

[snappyturtle]

100. They're that insignificant that I really have to search to find them? I

have better things to do with my time. I don't care what freepers think.

[codjh9]

22. There's been a lot of both - some 'glee' and a lot of sad stories. I think one of the most

common misconceptions, though, is that only big-rich were affected by this. I sure as hell have been affected, and I'm not 'rich'.

[Taverner]

25. I haven't yet

But I imagine it will only be a matter of time

[Caretha]

98. You won't have to imagine for long

It's a sure bet. This is going to affect everyone, rich - poor & in between. Not just in the US, but everywhere. Now the question is how are you going to handle it? Are you emotionally, physically and financially prepared as possible depending on your own individual circumstances?

Your original post speaks volumes about how fearful you are. That's completely understandable considering that what we are facing is basically unchartered territory, with a lot of unknowns, and that's scary. And, no the last great depression doesn't really help us understand/foresee what might be in-store for us. The world is a much different place now.

IMHO, the best we can hope for is a very bad recession. It is kind of like holding your breath when you're on a airplane trip, you're coming in for a landing, and all of a sudden it becomes very turbulent. Then the pilot comes on & says everyone please fasten your seat belts it going to be a bumpy ride on the way down, but there is a small window in the clouds that we're going to aim for it.

If truth be told, everyone is scared. Everyone handles fear differently, some with humor, some rightfully saying "I told you so!", some laughing at the plight of others, and some just huddled up in a corner in a fetal position.

Again, the question is - how are you going to handle it?

[HubertHeaver]

24. Not really rejoicing. Given the management we have had for the past

seven years and ten months, the collapse is inevitable. This is Bush's economic policies coming home to roost. But, unlike in Texas, they are roosting before he leaves office.

[Taverner]

27. Yes but do you folks really need to laugh heartily when you say "See I told you so"

I mean, so your particular conspiracy theory turned out to be true. Goodie goodie for you.

[Two Americas]

90. no one is laughing at you

Really Taverner, I don't see it.

[the other one]

26. Meaningful change is only possible during upheaval.

Pain is inevitable, but if (my conception of) gov't. does its job, individuals will be taken care of, even while the economy metamorphoses into a butterfly.

[Taverner]

29. And Mao said social change can only occur on the end of a barrel

Gun barrel that is

[the other one]

44. You're quoting Mao (paraphrasing at least)

That might not help your credibility. At least with me. I mean, who listens to a guy who brushed his teeth by rinsing his mouth with green tea? Not the brightest head of personality cult...

[Taverner]

46. No I'm just pointing out the fallacy of thinking on strictly theoretical terms

[whosinpower]

39. For some who have been warning this would happen

I suppose in one sense they are feeling good at least at being correct - but not about the outcome.

It was not so long ago that any who critisized the economic fundamentals were relegated as tinfoil hat wearers, anti-americans and worse. Turns out they were correct to warn of the housing bubble, the credit bubble - so I guess it is that glee you are talking of - but it is an empty glee - of being correct and perhaps being homeless at the same time.

However - it seems like it is only in times of great challenge, that people step up and do/create extraordinary things. I am willing to bet that the sense of community will be far more important in the future - that sense, that we are all in this together, that, together we can overcome these challenges. I am also willing to bet that the whole culture of consumerism will be drastically and fundamentally altered, as families readjust to the bare essentials, shelter, food and clean water.

Change is painful, but inevitable. You cannot undo what is done - and nothing ever stays the same - ever. We all shall have time to fully grasp what has happened, and grieve for the losses - and there will come a time when a person will be able to identify what is trully important and what is not. Corporatism will not survive if the consumers determine their own future - not the company.

[whosinpower]

60. Here is another warning - this is the big one

This is for all the marbles now, and the game is in play.

Right now, everyone is throwing their money into treasuries and the American dollar is gaining a tremendous amount of strength against others, in particular the euro. That strength is only backed with a perception of safety - there is no other tangible REAL reason for it, or so I thought. I mean, I am considering the recession, the falling home prices, the trade deficits, falling employment, the horrendous deficit and overall debt the US government has managed to create. I could not figure out WHY the US greenback was gaining in strength - it defied my own common sense. I am canadian, and I can understand if commodity prices fall, then so to does the canadian dollar - but the US dollar had flumoxed me. The US greenback is considered the petrodollar as all oil is traded in US dollars.

Think of it this way - the FED's have said they will loan/bailout the financial institutions for the sum of 700billion dollars. They need to come up with that money, and they need it in US dollars - so everyone is scrambling to provide them with that money backed by treasuries.....but when that cash hits main street, what do you think is going to happen to the VALUE of that dollar? What happens when there is too much of something - the value goes down.

People make fortunes by buying low and selling high. That is how the game works. Your own dollar is being artificially inflated right now. They are stroking its worth far higher than is REAL, given what your nation produces, and given its overall debt load - and getting ready to sell. When that happens, it is game over. When that happens, OPEC will be forced to sell in Euro's or some other, more stable currency, and the US will find itself talking to the likes of Argentina, on how to survive, or will aggressively pursue creating another north american currency, based on the commodities and strength of Canada and Mexico. There have already been talks of this by our leaders.

You can tell me I am wearing tinfoil if you want.

[obiwan]

43. I don't relish the thought of starving people (including me)....

But for our country to evolve to the next level we have to get many spoiled people to live within their means, and by doing so, become much more pragmatic and a lot less "me,me,me". We'll all suffer, but will be a better society to ourselves and the world if we suffer a little. Lord knows as a whole we have lavished undeserved luxury on ourselves.

And we have been a selfish bully to the rest of the world.If we can live our lives understanding the true value of things, we will be better for it. Our recent past behavior has earned us this time of penance.

My mom, her siblings, her parents, and everyone she knew survived the Great Depression, and we will survive this. Be a good student and don't ignore history this time.

Be tough, not soft, and do the right thing.

Bush was a lousy president, but he didn't cause all of this.

Let me tell you, I am not gleeful about this collapse. I worked my whole life and now I am getting old and I am very sick and disabled. I saw this coming. I'm not gonna run from it, and I guarantee I will make it to the other side.

George W. Bush will rot in Hell but I won't.

[pipi_k]

45. I haven't seen any

but then I'm not really paying attention...


In any case, I'm not glad. I'm so frightened I'm almost sick


:(

[Taverner]

47. Well if its any consolation

You will still be you no matter what happens

Your family will still love you as much as they do now

Your friends will still be your friends as much as they are now

That's the solace you can take facing the worst

[readmoreoften]

49. Millions of families are homeless and starving when the system functions as it should.

It's not really schadenfreude when it affects oneself. Although, what you're seeing could be considered nihilism.

[Edweird]

51. They're assholes?

:shrug:

[crispini]

52. Well....

I don't think I'd characterize it as "gleeful that the economy is collapsing" but I will agree with you that I have seen a certain amount of discontent with the way that our world is currently structured, and a bit of a utopian wish to return to a simpler / more localized time. Or, the ones who want a revolution. I think these are people who are hoping for a less corporate, less big-box-store kind of world. There's a strong anti-materialism feeling here from some people. Not sure that everyone fully realizes what we all may be going through, though.

[JackRiddler]

53. No one is gleeful here, you are projecting.

Many of us here are merely cognizant of the fact that this system was programmed to produce exactly this result, and will always produce this result, as it has on several other occasions in the past. The crash is not some kind of accident that a few doomsayers happened to get right. It is the predictable consequence of an irrational system of exploitation that must be overthrown for the good of the great majority. Don't blame the messengers who tell you that.

The gleeful ones, they are the winning gamblers among the hyper-rich (some of whom will lose). They are the ones who will end up with all the cash when the smoke of deleveraging and default has cleared. They are the ones showing up on your TV screen, talking reassuring pieties and offering vague help as they complete the plunder, led by Paulson and Kashkari. Direct your analytic gifts and then your anger at them.

[Edweird]

57. Apparently you've missed the OP's declaring that 'Detroit should die'...

that 'everything has to collapse to be rebuilt' and all that. There are MOST DEFINITELY people here happy to see a collapse.

[Two Americas]

91. yes

THAT is happening. Callousness and cruelty are often expressed here toward people who are poor, uneducated, blue collar workers, Union workers.

But that is not the same group of people as the ones the OP is complaining about. It is not "conspiracy theorists" or "Che" followers who are happy to see the "losers" suffer. Quite to the contrary, it is those who are more right leaning and economically conservative who are expressing contemptuous attitudes toward the working people.

[BR_Parkway]

54. In some ways, it seems like it would be easier to throw off the corporatists

if it all crashed and their influence was swept away - then we could enact some real changes. Who would the spineless in Congress listen to if there was no other body with clout then We, the People?

Provided we could keep everyone clothed, fed and housed during that transition, of course.

[IsItJustMe]

55. Stereotype much do you? I sure the hell know you are not talking about me, and I belong to DU.

[ananda]

58. Are you insane?!!!!

Nobody here is gleeful.

You must come from an alternate universe.

[DIKB]

59. Imagine

being in a relationship with a "psycho"

You get yanked around, up one day, down in the dumps the next, constantly fighting, outlook grim. Deep down you KNOW that it's doomed, but both of you are too tenacious to let go. All you are doing is prolonging misery, and not moving on to bigger and better things.

This is where our economy is.

We need drastic change, an overhaul, but we have to hit rock bottom before we can get most people to agree these things.

Most repukes are of the "I've got mine, so fuck everyone else" mentality. They need to lose a lot before they see how much they benefit, along with everyone else in having national health care, renewable energy sources, and a stable guaranteed retirement system.

I don't know that people are ecstatic, but I for one am READY for it to happen, so that we can move on.

[Joe Fields]

61. Very good question. Beats the shit out of me.

[snot]

66. I think there's some relief at having reality finally become somewhat less deniable . . .

combined with some rubber-necking and some "I told you so."

[snot]

80. i shd add, from the few of us still not on antidepressants &

hoping there's an upside to that.

[On the Road]

67. I Think Part of It Is Youth and Inexeperience

or a failure to comprehend the results of a real economic crash on people's lives. Part of it is is hyperbole about the current situation, the feeling that we are already in a depression. We are not -- daily life is remarkably normal considering the events of the last six months.

Part of it, is a hatred of the current economic order and a desire for the modern industrial economy to vanish. It is the Unibomber/Tyler-Durden approach to civilization, and it is tantamount to desiring genocide. Then, of course, the same people would right around and point their fingers somewhere -- anywhere -- else.

[TheKentuckian]

68. Its hard to be happy that you set your own ass on fire.

Or that you knew the gang of thugs that run your block where going to curb you one day.

The glee is either ignorance or it's fuckbag cousin evil.

[earth mom]

70. Corporate America is the devil. There I said it. But I'm not gleeful about it.

No.

I'm pissed off that we've collectively sold our souls to those cold hearted, rotten to the core entities that use people up and discard them like so much trash.

I think the stock market is a pyramid scheme set out to scam as many as possible for the sake of the few at the top.

I'd love to see the stock market kicked to the curb as the piece of shit it really is.

But that doesn't mean I'm gleeful about anyone's suffering.

See, the thing is, I care about people. I care that people be treated with dignity and respect and paid a fair livable wage.

I believe in The Golden Rule. What it really means. (not my user name)

But somewhere along the line far too many people in this country and world have stopped caring about anything other than the bottom line, the almighty dollar, and themselves.


So now we're all facing a reality check because the way we've all been living is simply unsustainable.

How could it be when it's done on minimum wage (or less) with millions of people being exploited solely for the benefit of others?

Impossible.


Here, read this, it's exactly how I feel and I wish I had written it:

EXTRAORDINARY: CAPITALISM AT THE EXPENSE OF ALL LIFE, By Juan Santos

Saturday, 15 November 2008

The bottom line is profit. Profit and the lust for it is capitalism's event horizon. Much like what happens at the boundary of a black hole ("boundary of a black hole" is roughly what the term "event horizon" means in the theory of general relativity) any energy, information or meaning that passes the threshold of a consciousness driven by profit disappears into the super-gravitational field of the black hole itself - never to be seen or heard of again.

Nothing can be seen once it enters this realm, and nothing, having entered, ever escapes. No light, no sign, no dawn of understanding can re-emerge. Anything, any light, any object, any thought, any meaning, purpose, or any human feeling is swallowed and for all practical purposes, obliterated there.

<snip>

http://carolynbaker.net/site/content/view/851/1/

[Joe Fields]

71. Taverner, it'sthoroughly disgusting how some on here are actually rooting

for the collapse of our system. These anarchists among us won't be happy until everyone is on the street corner peddling apples and pencils.

[alittlelark]

72. I have seen very few of them - most w/ low post counts.

[girl gone mad]

75. Not this stupid canard.

:eyes:

I make it a point to read any economic threads I can find on DU.

I see no glee over the rising unemployment and homelessness.

The only mildly celebratory posts I've seen were from those expressing relief that a corrupt and oppressive system is at last showing weakness and hope that a more egalitarian system might take its place.

Don't push your ignorant meme in my face. Sell crazy somewhere else.

[Ichingcarpenter]

76. The thing is he crapped on posters that warned him

of the coming meltdown

[Greyhound]

106. Kill the messenger. Typical reaction from those that hold the illusion of

superiority because they were "doing great" and ignored the casualties of their insanity.

[really annoyed]

78. I'm Not

...and I don't get anybody who DOES.

[Missy Vixen]

81. We're seeing the pain already

Taverner, thank you for writing this. I have the same feelings.

Those who so gleefully welcome the economic meltdown have NO IDEA what some people are going through already. We're lucky. It's just us and the felines, and hopefully, we can keep everyone fed and sheltered. At the same time, the sacrifices and the changes will be very, very hard for a LOT of people, including many who are just trying to keep their kids fed and safe.

We're pissed that the other side doesn't have any humanity? What about our side? There are going to be those that are beyond even reason, but the vast majority will be people who are cold, hungry and broke, just like any of us might be.

I don't get their "particular brand of schaedenfreude", either. I'm too busy encouraging my husband and looking for any little job I can find as well.

Julie

[Ichingcarpenter]

92. "The 'warnings' were lumped alongside the stories of grey people in UFO's"

Listen he just said in this thread that about the people that warned DU about the meltdown
in this thread. THAT IS MAJOR BULLSHIT.

We have some serious informed people here that warned
and gave academic reasons and news about the future coming meltdown.

Rather than say we were right he still pisses on people
that warned him and calls us gleeful in our prognosis.

I haven't found that anybody that have been really paying attention, and contributing here
at DU on the economic coming meltdown claiming schaedenfreude on the misfortunes
that the ruling right has given us.

I find his thread disingenuous to the great people that informed DU and have been paying attention.

Rather than give Kudos to the ones that saw it coming he pisses on them after being wrong over the years..

[Caretha]

99. I do agree with a large portion of what you have written

DU has been a wonderful source of information. The SMW thread is filled with dedicated posters who have provided a valuable service to this community since the inception of DU. I wonder how many people read it daily. I wonder if the OP ever did, and if so, how he came to the conclusion that economic news, research and considered opinion can be compared to "stories of grey people in UFO's". That's a lot of hyberbole that screams, "Woe is me, I didn't want to pay attention, & besides they don't say anything that I like to hear. I just hate those smartie pants know-it-alls".

[Two Americas]

83. I don't know Taverner

I have not seen anyone "gleeful" about the economy.

Who is it that you have a problem with?

Some are saying "I told you so," but I don't think they are happy that they were right.

There is legitimate cause for feeling positive about the fact that people's denial may be coming to an end, because that is the first step in getting to work and fighting back.

[xchrom]

94. because some think they will come out better than those they wish pain on. nt

[treestar]

95. People who were poor already

Might easily experience some feeling like that to see all those who were smugly looking down upon them before have a little experience of what it's like.

People who never had anything to put in the stock market aren't going to feel bad about paper losses of paper gains that still put the person ahead of where they were when they first invested. If you bought a house for $50,000 in 1970, and it was worth $350,000 in 2006 and is now worth $280,000, someone who never had the $$ to buy a house in the first place is not going to feel terribly sorry for you.

Middle class Americans tend to demand sympathy from those much worse off than they are, be it the poor, third world people, or dirt poor Mexicans happy to work for less than minimum wage.

[opihimoimoi]

96. I Think most of us look at the Poor Econ as proof Bush is inept,not interested in Leading our Nation

to safe ground....

[NutmegYankee]

97. It is not Glee or Schadenfreude

It's "I fucking told you so!"

We knew this would happen, and now that the Bush lovers have started to apologize, I don't just want to rub it in, I want to take an industrial grade buffer to them. We took so much crap from those stupid idiots, being called traitors and terrorist lovers for example, that I want to remind them of what they did everyday.

[legin]

101. because I got thrown out of 'Vultures Anonymous'

for being a bad influence. :P

[legin]

102. ...when circling in the air a group of vultures is called a kettle

(which I didn't know)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulture

Perhaps "I'm feeling all kettle-ish" could take on a new meaning.

[comrade snarky]

103. I'm not happy about it but...

I am happy it's happening now when the idiot son will get the credit. I like to see responsibility placed squarely where it belongs.

They were desperately trying to hold things together until a Democrat could be blamed. Wouldn't have mattered if the crash cane on Obama's first day in office, the right wing would have been calling it the Obama depression. Fanning the flames to scare people and make it as bad as the could to score political points.

Hell, some of the more pointy headed are trying that anyway.

<edited for clarity>

[Greyhound]

104. I don't think anybody is happy about it, but many do recognize that the only possibility of changing

the long-con game that has been played on us comes after it has been exposed as a con game.

Yes we will be the one's that are screwed over, but we're going to be screwed over either way, there is no escaping that. At least this way enough people will be forced to see how they've been ripped off by the parasites and that will make it far more likely that they will consider the alternatives.