Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 11 Num. 62
=======================================
("Quid coniuratio est?")
Futurist Foresees Trouble Ahead
(Washington, 12/24/97) -- Author Gerald Celente appeared briefly on C-Span this morning. He has written a book called Trends 2000, just now coming out in paperback.
With a major worldwide economic crisis rumbling in the background this holiday season, Celente's observations are noteworthy. He says that the so-called "economic boom" of the 1990s has been "based on cheap money, just like the 1920s." The Federal Reserve printing presses are rolling, night and day, pumping up the money supply. Banks are crawling on their knees, ringing your doorbell, and begging you to take their credit cards. Inflation exists, but it is a focused inflation, for example in the stock market and in automobile and house prices.
Conspiracy Nation says, watch Russia as the next economic domino to fall.
"Never before have so many people lost confidence in so many institutions simultaneously," says Celente. In the United States, there is a growing dichotomy between its citizens and the denizens of the "lunatic loop," Washington, DC. These trends, says the C-Span guest, "will evolve, but some of them are happening very quickly." (Very quickly indeed, like =right now=, as the economic bubble deflates like a collapsed lung.)
Celente, founder and director of the Trends Research Institute, notes the growing gap between haves and have-nots. "This gap between the rich and the poor is really going to change the way society lives." He foresees a new housing trend, "communalism." Increasingly, people will live together not based on family or emotional attachments but as a way to save money on rent. In the "good economy" ("good" for =some=), fewer are choosing to marry and raise a family: they can't afford it. "There are as many single households in the United States as there are married couples with children," says Celente.
Possible good news is a move away from fossil fuels, such as oil. "We believe there's going to be an alternative energy source developing very shortly, sooner rather than later," says the futurist. "Something to take us away from fossil fuels, something not very obvious, and it's against the conventional wisdom of the day."
But in general, the outlook is bad. "We're going to be facing a crisis of proportions we've never seen before." And how well is our "watchdog press" informing us? Not very well, says Celente. He points out the prevalence of "junk news": "Everyone knows the name of Clinton's dog. We know all about Jon Benet Ramsey. We know all about the life of O.J. Simpson, and on and on. But in the meantime, people are not seeing the current events forming the future trends. I'll give you an example. On July 18th, we were doing some work with the Xerox corporation. And they asked us, 'How do you track trends?' And we picked up the newspaper that day, and we said, 'Here. Look through the paper. You =won't= find this as a headline story: The Currencies Are Beginning To Unravel Throughout Southeast Asia.' Instead, that day, CNN announced that they were going to be at the auction of O.J. Simpson's house. So this is what's happening to the news! This is what they call 'news.' And they say it with a high level of arrogance too, that 'This is the news.' It's not news! It's junk!"
Further signs of trouble are in the political arena. Says Celente, "In politics, everyone knows that we no longer have a representative form of government. They feel that government is bought by special interests. I'm from the Bronx, originally. So what they call 'soft money,' we call 'bribes.'"
"We're going to see a new 'ism' develop. Right now, the world is overbalanced with what we call 'capitalism.' And now, as all these economies begin to unravel, you can also bet that there's going to be a lot of political unrest. We're going to see a new 'ism' develop. In many countries, look for a different shade of red, a new type of communism. Not like the old communism, but something to replace the one-system. Because these economies are not going to hold up. There's going to be a counter-balance."
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
For related stories, visit:
http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html
http://www.netcom.com/~feustel
Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those
of Conspiracy Nation, nor of its Editor in Chief.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."