Chrysler Goes Broke

Not that long ago, it was unimaginable to most Americans that Chrystler would go under, never mind GM, which only hasn’t filed for bankruptcy yet. My family gave up on American cars in the mid-70’s, and except for trucks, I’ve gone overseas for cars. Here’s an interesting exercise; cars I’ve bought in my life.
9 Saabs, 2 Porsches, 2 Suburbans, 1 Ford F-150, 2 VW’s, 2 Toyotas, 1 Mazda and 1 Audi.

The loss of jobs by the thousands of autoworkers is a microcosm of the contraction we are all going to see. American society is currently living an unsustainable lifestyle, and the rest of the world wants it too. That’s not going to happen, but the disconnect will be an ugly thing. Every generation of Americans has expected to live a better life than their parents, but it’s unlikely that the current set of kids will see that happen. How will we handle extreme hardship is the question for our time. Nobody is talking about it. The economic collapse caught them by surprise. This is looming, but undiscussed.

With 25% unemployment, and oil at $300 a barrel, many things will have to change. We’ll be more focused on food production than we’ve been in decades. Our current agribusinesses are much too dependent on fossil fuels to keep cranking out cheap processed foods. I can’t say I’ll miss the parking lots torn up for agriculture.