We will see...After two years of intensive research I have concluded in the current state of affairs in the USA we see these paradoxes:

1) As we have reached the greatest level of global power, we have come to a place of unsurpased internal weakness.

2) As we have become the greatest worldwide quasi-moral influence (political, moral, cultural), we have come to a place of intensified internal corruption.

3) As we have become the dominant global economic/financial power we have slipped into a two decades long binge of deficit spending, indebtedness and uncollaterized borrowing from the larger world.

4) As we have become the most pervasive 'cultural influence' in the world we have little or nothing at all to actual impart with that 'voice' other than shear noise, narassism or nihilism.

5) At this height of image as the only global military power we are, in fact, at a very low state of military preparedness or willingness on the part of the people to expose their sons and daughters to sacrifice for a greater good.

6) At the current height of our global influence we remain a very parocial, ignorant and selfish/selfcentered people.

The financial systems we have built and the lack of regard for moral hazard has gotten to the point of rampant speculation on the part of even the most conservative of institutions and personalities. Our entire monetary system is built on massive indebtedness, unsustainable credit and mindless speculation.

Our political class is entirely and shamelessly corrupt and self serving. This is flaunted publicly and the people have no moral backbone to reprove the wayward public servants. They have been bought off with the same bribes that their leadership has be bought with as well. Head and tail both in the same pot.

Our entire way of life is like a patient in intersive care whose very existence hangs on the continuing infusion of chemicals, energy and manufactured products from without the corpus. We no longer are a self supporting economy, not in the present form we use. We have slipped into a welfare/entitlement mentality where virtually every person in the nation feels that somehow they are OWED a good life by others or the government. No one is willing to forego pleasure or endure rigour for a future. We are eating the inheritance of our children and in some cases the children themselves.

Y2K is a symptom of our larger short sightedness and arrogance. We bow in worship to a god of our own making, upon whom we place our trust and in whose image we are being remade. Believing in Science we have become laboratory rats. Believing in Materialism we have become merely soul-less matter. Believing in technology we have become amoral machinery. Believing in ourselves as gods we have become devils.

The ship we are on IS the Titanic. Don't be fooled. Beware when folly is piled together, it is about to be burned. We are indeed a large pile of folly. We will be burned. There is a reconing coming; however it comes, it is coming.

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), January 03, 2000

Answers

What blather.

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), January 03, 2000.

Exactly so.

-- JIT (justintime@rightnow.net), January 03, 2000.

My comment doesn't look quite right tucked in behind KOS.

It is intended for ditdotdash.

-- JIT (justintime@rightnow.net), January 03, 2000.

"We are eating the inheritance of our children and in some cases the children themselves."

I had to use lots of floss to get the bits of that one kid out of my mouth. He struggled a lot going down as well. Next time I'll use chloroform.

-- Ned Raggett (ned@kuci.org), January 03, 2000.

KoS, And "Do you like to mudwrestle?" would be ... ?

-- J (Y2J@home.com), January 03, 2000.

I'm not the type to believe that Jesus is coming to settle the score, but there seems to me to be a move towards totalitarianism afoot in this country. The Powers That Be don't care who they co-opt to do the evil deed. Bush was just as corrupt as Clinton, but he was better at covering up his crimes than Bill.

I have come to believe, however, that the American People are not nearly as stupid as TPTB wants us to be. In fact, many of us are increasingly fed up. The people have just enough economic strength to not want to rock the boat. If the economy goes south or TPTB shows it's teeth, the New World Order will be bitch-slapped out of power so fast, they'll think they were in a time warp.

Here's to John Q. Public!

-- Tim the Evil Programmer (tmiley@yakko.cs.wmich.edu), January 03, 2000.

KOS, I have never been so succinctly disregarded (recently). My hat is off to you and White/Strunk. No doubt the next time I may only get a few letters of an acronym from you...which would be even more powerfully pointed.

Have a great day!

:-)

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), January 03, 2000.

DitDotDash is correct. God is the author of history. He has never failed to punish a nation by removing His blessing or by outright destruction when its people forgot Him.

His hand is raised in judgement now. The means will be of His choosing and the time also.

Preparation is for the Remnant whose obedience He rewards with the legacy of His promises. Stay prepared. Stay watchfull.

-- RK (RKMount@t2kprep.com), January 03, 2000.

Dit,

Right on pal, right ON!

Kook

-- Y2Kook (Y2Kook@usa.net), January 03, 2000.

You make me puke with your "God has his hand raised in judgement" nonsense............

Scripture is absolutely CLEAR......his entire judgement was dealt with at the cross.......he took judgement upon himself (Christ) out of love for his creation.

Like the vast majority of the church, you make a complete mockery of the cross and are unwittingly blaspheming God by saying that his sacrifice was not good enough.

If God raises his hand in judgement ever again, then Christ died in vain......how can the simple basic truth be so butchered by the church......it really is sad.

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), January 03, 2000.

"There is a reconing coming;...."

The coneheads are coming, the coneheads are coming!

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), January 03, 2000.

Thanks for all your responses to this thread. I appreciate the discussion and do listen to what you say, even will be checking the dictionary too, Lars. LOL my spelling is atrowshish (;-).

Take care!

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), January 03, 2000.

Good read... KOS must have had mud in his eye... LOL.

Are we in paradise or are we in hell? I guess it depends on your point of view.

"Unless you are the lead dog, the view never changes..." - unknown

snoozin' on the couch... (BAD DOG!)

The Dog

-- The Dog (dogdesert@hotmail.com), January 03, 2000.

Craig.....The sacrifice that Christ gave was that the *righteous* not suffer judgment and His gift was enough. God retains the right to judge the *un*righteous. Your Bible must read very differently from mine.......

-- Kenin Marble (kenin17@yahoo.com), January 03, 2000.