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Yearly Archives: 2011

Conspiracy Theories

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It hasn’t been a good month for popular conspiracy theories.  Several theories with different levels of popularity have been thoroughly put down, including the idea that President Obama was not born in Hawaii, bin Laden was already dead, and very quickly the idea that the raid conducted to kill him was a fake.  The world appears to be just what it is on the surface.

That doesn’t mean that there will be an end to rumors and the “official” retelling of some major events won’t continue to be doubted by people that believe they are elaborate diversion away from the truth.  People like to believe that things aren’t how they seem because dark forces in charge of the world explains why any one of us seems to have little power over our own lives.  But some research on my part has yet to come up with a single good example from history that was later shown to be a vast conspiracy.

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The Managed Depression

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There is little doubt that the economy is not healthy.  I have used the term “Managed Depression” to describe it, claiming that we are in a long-term slowdown that is more severe than most officials and prognosticators are willing to admit.  I glibly defined the term “Managed Depression” some time ago, but many people have asked me for a more rigorous one.  Here is the case stated as simply as possible.

What’s in a word?  Why is there value in calling this a “Managed Depression” or anything else using the dreaded “D Word”?  There are two reasons.  The first is that a sense of urgency has been missing as our politics and news analysis has been easily distracted by side issues that seem expedient. The second is that while a Depression is an unusual event historically, it’s not without parallel.  We’ve learned a lot along the way and know something about how to handle it.  But we won’t get past it until we’re honest and tackle it directly.

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Churn & Burn

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Are we finally starting to see some good economic news?  That’s always a hard question to answer, especially as legislatures across the USofA fight over some really lousy budget projections that require tough action.  But most people will agree that what matters most right now are jobs, and that may finally be looking up.  The reason is a simple one – those who are employed have been squeezed about as far as they can be.

One person’s constant stress becomes another person’s opportunity – eventually, at least.

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Back to Reality

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The death of bin Laden may be nothing more than closure to an era for the USofA.  However, there are some signs that this could be a new era for our politics that is desperately needed.  There is at least a chance that this could be the injection of stark reality that we have needed for some time, a re-focus on the things that really matter.

Only time will tell, of course, but for now there are a lot of unconnected loose ends.  They do not make for one coherent thought, at least not yet.  Just as I believe history will eventually tell us that this Managed Depression started on September 11th, 2001, the day that we started to fully engage the situation may have been May 1st, 2011.

This won’t make a lot of sense yet.  History rarely does when you’re elbows into it.

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bin Laden

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When the ticker ran across the screen announcing the death of Osama bin Laden, I didn’t know what to think at first.  It wasn’t too long before I decided that what I wanted more than anything was to see how the rest of the world was reacting – not online, but in person.  I went up to the neighborhood bar to watch the news and have a quick drink.

All I knew was that I wanted to remember where I was when the news came.

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