(Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)
Americans are the most heavily armed people in the world. They are also probably the most heavily doped, drugged and indebted. With the economy breaking down, an explosive cocktail could be brewing. The protests at the G-20 and nato summits could be a harbinger of what is headed for Main Street America.
Parts of Strasbourg resembled miniature war zones during the nato summit (April 3 and 4). It was like a French Gaza. Masked protesters hurled rocks, smashed windows and even lit a hotel on fire. Stratfor reported that rioters armed with loaded weapons indicated the violence could have easily exploded into something much worse. Around 25,000 riot police mobilized and arrested hundreds of people. “It’s incredible to think that people choose to take part in a peace protest armed with axes and metal bars and take out their anger on civil servants who are merely doing their job,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy said during a television interview Sunday (emphasis mine).
Yet, rioting in Europe is becoming commonplace. On April 4 in Rome, 200,000 workers took to the streets in the city to vent frustrations over the financial crisis. Over the last month or so in France, hundreds of angry workers have taken managers hostage at three different companies (Caterpillar, 3M and Sony) to protest mass layoffs and wring concessions out of employers.
The British are preparing for more riots too. At the beginning of April, two chief constables quoted in Mail Online gave grim warnings: It’s time to “batten down the hatches. The bad old days of riots could soon be back.” Police are warning that a “summer of rage” may soon engulf the country as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets, the Guardian reported.
But could anything like this hit America?
According to Trends Research Institute ceo Gerald Celente, yes, and soon—and riots are not the only issue Americans will have on their hands.
In November 2007, Celente told upi that the following year would become known as “The Panic of 2008.” Proven correct, he now paints a disturbing picture for 2009 and beyond. Celente says to expect food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches by 2012. “America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” he said.
But Celente is not alone in his sober forecast. In a recent Kitco.com post, Trader Tracks Newsletter analyst Roger Wiegand, painted a dark picture:
Social problems from massive unemployment will cause higher crime rates. One analyst estimates the U.S. murder rate will increase to 50,000 per year, matching national traffic accident numbers. Single mothers, children, elderly and others will go hungry. National government disaster planners cannot cope (think Katrina times 100) as they grossly underestimate how bad this can get and how swiftly it arrives. There is plenty of food but the handling and distribution problems will interrupt/delay deliveries. People eat daily, not once a month.
In response to public demonstrations, food riots and escalation of crime, federal troops will be called out and martial law implemented in the worst-case cities. The right-wing militias will be joined by other put-upon groups in fighting with these troops. With so many weapons throughout America, this is going to be ongoing and deadly.
If the above scenario didn’t leave you dizzy, Wiegand goes on to say that large sectors of corporate America will grind to a standstill. Soaring unemployment will cause black markets to spring up everywhere. The U.S. dollar will become obsolete as bartering and personal trading becomes the new American economy. The new black market will put further pressure on what is left of America’s remaining retail business. U.S. auto industries will go bankrupt, and GM and Chrysler will no longer be independent companies. Those who can afford it will abandon the big cities and live in gated enclaves protected by private armies. In short, America will, in many ways, become a Third World country.
In case you think Celente and Wiegand are overly extreme, the evidence is all over the local news, you just have to look.
- According to cnn, a record one in 10 Americans already gets government aid to buy food. That’s over 32 million Americans!
- According to Bloomberg, the real unemployment rate now stands at 15.6 percent, not the oft-quoted 8.5 percent.
- According to the Washington Post, the latest job report foreshadows deeper job losses ahead.
- According to USA Today, record numbers of consumers are behind on their non-mortgage loans.
- According to the Christian Science Monitor, student debt levels and defaults are surging. Students owe a whopping $500 billion.
- According to Reuters, one in eight U.S. homeowners is behind on loan payments or in foreclosure.
- According to Associated Press, tent cities are springing up as people are forced out of their homes and onto the streets.
One of the most vivid examples showing that America may be on the verge of breakdown comes in the form of grassroots tax day tea parties, or rallies, scheduled in the coming weeks. There are thousands of them.
“The tea parties will bring the outrage to a full boil,” one Republican political commentator said. “[T]he battle to protect our nation from socialism’s effect on our culture and our American exceptionalism has just begun.”
Is America on the verge of another 1773?
There is evidence that the U.S. government thinks the possibility of widespread internal turmoil is a real possibility and is developing a military contingency plan. On Sept. 30, 2008, the Army Times reported that Army troops returning from Iraq were now being trained in America “as an on-call federal response force for natural or man-made emergencies and disasters,” and may be “called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control.” As of the end of 2008, 20,000 troops had been earmarked for deployment within the U.S, the Washington Post reported.
Are Vietnamesque protests, or the widespread and violent worker marches of the Great Depression, about to return? Could another Boston Tea Party—or something worse—be brewing?
Celente warns, “The ‘Panic of ‘08′ will be followed by ‘The Collapse of ‘09.’” Political, environmental, geopolitical, social and economic factors all point to “the decline and fall of Empire America,” he says.
Will today’s economic breakdown be the match that ignites the social Molotov cocktail?
America is facing a future of friction and flame. As the U.S. economy further breaks down, unemployment and, consequently, social pressures will inevitably increase. Is chaos in American cities about to become a common sight? Read the chapter “Terrorism and Race Riots” from Gerald Flurry’s booklet Ezekiel: The End-Time Prophet to understand how the Bible says terrorism and race riots are looming—for America.
