Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Heading for a Break-Up?

What a way to start the morning- Via Drudge cheerful predictions from a Russian analyst that the United States is heading for an economic downfall and a total break-up. Into six separate parts!
Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, he said: "A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in the U.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost their savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors and Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole cities will be left without work. Governors are already insistently demanding money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at the moment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope that Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there are no miracles."

He also cited the "vulnerable political setup", "lack of unified national laws", and "divisions among the elite, which have become clear in these crisis conditions."

He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts - the Pacific coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.

He even suggested that "we could claim Alaska - it was only granted on lease, after all." Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on information warfare.

I'm not sure I buy the six parts thesis- or the prediction of a break-up in general. And I don't think 'a growing Chinese population' is what will send the West Coast on it's merry way- I think it's the simple fact that by itself alone, California is (or was) the fifth largest economy in the world, I believe- or some oft-quoted stat like that.

But this guy is all smiley and happy, that's for sure.

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