Have you noticed this lately in the comments sections under business news articles?

I used to be one of very few who warned of violence against the relatively well-to-do at the hands of the poor and especially the newly-impoverished, if the opportunity imbalance persisted, but I've noticed a real shift toward this exact belief among the thousands of folks who waste their time commenting at the bottom of news articles recently. These aren't forum junkies or - most of the time - even Internet savvy people. They're like a friend of mine's husband; just a regular schlub who one-day discovered that those comments exist and that he can post his own comments there as well. Just like the guys who discovered call-in politics radio shows back in the late 1980s and got addicted to them. These are pretty ordinary people.

Hell, this guy doesn't even understand the concept of paragraphs, but he can sure read the handwriting on the wall.

Ramiz Z 3 hours ago
4
14

For the last three hours i have been reading comments on this article. Whats amazing numerous people have stated that no one expects a low wage worker to make as much or more money as someone as a CEO or CFO or a Doctor or a Lawyer etc.All People want is to have enough for basic living needs but many idiots have the courage to even deny that. WOW. I'm astonished. Some keep mentioning socialism and sharing the wealth etc. some have called for others to go live in Russia etc. Let me just state the reason why U.S.S.R collapsed. THE U.S.S.R COLLAPSED BECAUSE OF GREED AND CORRUPTION IN GOVERNMENT (SOMETHING THAT'S ON THE RISE HERE IF YOU HAVE NOT NOTICED). Kind of similar faith what is awaiting us. For all of those that want to keep denying others decent living needs i have a question for you. What do you think that a mother or a father will do when they have no money no job ( or have job that pays peanuts) but their kids are hungry, sick, cold etc. Those people (in most cases) first try to do everything in their power to provide for their families in good honest way. When they see that a society has failed them they turn to crime. As the number of these individuals keeps growing what do you think will happen? Number of people on food stamps is almost at 50 million!!! That is almost 1 out of 6 people in U.S.Unfortunately this will continue to rise. What do you think will happen when that number reaches 100 million or 200 million or even higher. Now most of these are not your lazy deadbeats( as some will try to paint the picture) but working mothers and fathers trying to feed their kids but keep failing because the laws are made to benefit the ones that already have everything . What do you think will Happen when the government goes bankrupt, and can no longer raise the debt ceiling to pay for food stamps, medicaid, medicare,ssi etc.??? When that 50 million, 100 million, 200 million or more have no more means of supporting their families? Do you really want to live in the environment or a country where your next door neighbor might shoot you for 5 dollars so he can buy a loaf of bread for his kids. They cannot put 300 million people in jail. Our jails are already too full as is, and we are releasing criminals because it costs too much now what do you think will happen when 50% of our population turns to crime just to survive?Where will you hide? You can not. This type of inequality is what starts the Riots. Great Empires have fallen because of greed and corruption (Rome). To think that we will survive is nothing else but ignorance. This used to be a best country to live in ( It might still be ) but we are on a steep slide and are going down fast. You might think that you are fine because you are wealthy enough but once again what happens when you have thousands coming at your door to take what you have. We are walking a very thin line and we have to be really careful not to destroy what was given to us by our fathers and grandfathers. As each day passes there are less and less people that can support them selves. we are at a boiling point even though some economist will say that the economy looks better then ever. It does but for who? For few on the Top. While an average family is fighting for their very existence and unfortunately due to the corrupt system failing...

The 8 comments that followed his (within the "reply" thread) broke out 6 agreeing, 1 calling him a socialist, and 1 schooling him on his lack of paragraphs.

A year ago, I wouldn't have even found one post warning that the well-to-do that are immediately available to the struggling are in grave danger of being taken apart as a result of what's becoming more and more commonplace in this society. I have to wonder whether this is an indication that we've crossed a line of some sort, and that this psychological/sociological acceptance of inter-class violence is a critical precursor to the actual eruption of inter-class violence. I guess we'll just have to see what develops, since I don't know that there's ever been a modern examination of the internal collapse of a major empire as it progressively occurred.

The collapse of the USSR came from the top-down, as did the collapse of Nazi Germany, so this is something that's very different, and with the stark difference in culture between the US and those two most modern meltdowns, a collapse is obviously going to feature different points of initiation and different momentum characteristics. Still, it seems as if the one broad requirement is that the average citizen must become psychologically "familiar" with the notion of his/her entire society's descent into what had been a completely unacceptable situation (mayhem, murder, wholesale looting, societal scapegoating) before the physical manifestation of that descent can occur. If so, then it may be that we're moving even more rapidly toward a true tipping point than I would've predicted.

If you have money, I wouldn't make it obvious. Just sayin'.

a reply to: NorEaster

Good points.

One of my major concerns are the people that comment bashing comments like the one you have posted. The person who bashed him for his paragraphing skills should have read the content of that single paragraph. Capitalization, paragraphing, and grammatical errors aside, it is a great post.

I see posts similar here on ATS that are well thought out, just with less time and effort put into the typing than what should have been. I like to try and look smart, and a big part of looking smart on the internet is in how you type. I just hate it when people bash obviously well thought out posts because of a simple lack of proper writing/grammar skills.

a reply to: NorEaster

I agree. We already have people who commit crimes for gold chains, drugs and money. The last thing we need is people to start turning to crime for food.

a reply to: ArtemisE

What I find laughable are the people that claim there is no problem with what is going on. Even my grandparents know that we are being royally screwed.

When talking about some of the things I have come across recently on here at breakfast with my family a few months back, I noticed my grandmother was indifferent. She later responded to me talking about the corruption our nation is currently under with a "You didn't know about that?". This took me back and then I realized. She used to work for the federal government.

Its a sad place when people are willing to sit back and let things get this bad. I'm aware I am part of the problem for sitting here typing and not doing anything useful, but I am going to use the excuse that I'm young, and only just waking up to what is going on. :-p

If it makes me look any better, at least I post things I find here on Facebook all the time. At least I'm trying to get some real info out there.... X D

a reply to: NorEaster

Today, right now the thing that is preventing that collapse (or the riots that precipitate that collapse) is the social engineering behind the scenes.

In the EU its called "Austerity Measures". Measures being the operative word.

The pressure applied to the Public is not uniform. Segments of society are focused upon separately one at a time. A little student debt here, a little firemen pension there…

The engineering of the tremendous burden placed upon the people is ever increasing a little at a time, but it is placed on different segments at different times to insure their Paradigm remains stable enough to continue.

Now, lets lose some 401k, tap some more social security and cut back on children's education.

Who cares, it doesn't affect me.

a reply to: NorEaster

I grew up in a not so well to do area, I know full well the power of "to Provide for one's love ones" I also have seen many childhood friends go to crime, Sure some were for stupid reasons like joy rides and stealing new sneakers, but what do you have to say for the Oldest Child of a Three children household when their mother is busy working two jobs and the youngest one looks at the oldest one and says "I'm Hungry"

Is the older child supposed to say "sorry nothing in the fridge, our budget doesn't allow us to get food till tomorrow" No, I know all too well what will happen next, that Child will do whatever is in his power to feed for his younger sibling.

This need to provide gets stronger for the parents of the children. It happens all too often, and the older brother if caught is just thrown into the system, one less mouth to feed for the family so he helps them out one way or another... Sad state of affairs.

a reply to: NorEaster

This sentiment definitely has a growing consensus.

This isn't a fear that the 99% will storm the mansions of the 1%, granting everybody some misguided comeuppance. This is fear of the 51% storming the 49%. It is fear of the poor stealing from the slightly less poor just to feed their own.

If that became a reality, I wonder how long it would last before they turn their focus to the real culprits of the problem. This is why we are being engineered to feel separated from those who live a poorer or richer lifestyle than our own. "They" (and I hate using that word in this context) will continue to make people fearful of each other in order to keep the focus off of the real problems.

The issue is nothing new but the flavor of the everyday conversations I hear is. I also see this as a foreboding shadow encroaching slowly over society. I'm an optimist but I also understand that shift and transformation is often accompanied by chaos and turmoil, even at its best.

I read a lot of comments on many articles. I think you can get a good sense as to what is going on in the real world, that is, when you learn how to discern from the shills and trolls who post on those articles too. Based on what I've been reading over the last 5 years, people definitely seem about to snap and go after the rich with sniper rifles. I think we'll start hearing about it on the news. The rich will go into hiding, the poor will hunt them.
Just my prediction.

a reply to: intrptr

This is true, but with the Internet, how long can that isolation strategy hold? I don't know. All I know is that the talk is rapidly shifting from "toss the elected bums out" to "let's just kill the 'haves' and have some for ourselves". Maybe it was the Tea Party "movement" and how the corporate right tried to use it to claim the "mantle of oppression" in response to Obama and the DNC sweep in the 2008 elections. Or, more likely, it was the collapse of the Occupy Wall Street "uprising" turned the whole idea of any political solution into just another waste of time street theater sideshow.

All I know is that this society has learned that there is no political solution and that street protests have no impact on what's crushing down on the majority of those living here. They know that multinational corporations have a stranglehold on the entire Republican Party (and much of the Democratic Party), and that every widely reported effort to break that hold through legislation (and even Executive Order) has failed over the last couple decades. They've also learned that the word Fascism actually refers to a hand-in-glove alliance between government and big business, regardless of which entity it is that is the hand and which entity it is that is the glove, and that this is exactly what has become of their own system of government, and that this is why it doesn't work for them anymore.

Perhaps it's just because the corporates have finally lost their capacity to accurately perceive themselves relative to the rest of the society that they wander carelessly through from day to day. Maybe they don't understand anymore where the line sits. That line that - if crossed - turns everything on its ear, and spins their future out of their control. Hubris is the popular term these days, but it might just be a blindness of sorts. These people probably have no real awareness of what's gathering around them.

They probably feel the same way about the "1%", and have no idea that the sights are being adjusted on them right now. You'd think that these professional facilitators of the corporate agenda would understand the concept of "low hanging fruit", and that they'll be the first to be harvested when all hell breaks loose. The human psyche is a fascinating thing to observe in the wild.

a reply to: NorEaster

Or, more likely, it was the collapse of the Occupy Wall Street "uprising" turned the whole idea of any political solution into just another waste of time street theater sideshow.

Compelling point.

Not enough participation, maybe. Ever see "Steal This Movie"? Life and times of Abbie Hoffman. This country used to unify. Personally I believe I witnessed that unity end the Viet Nam war.

Nowadays? We're too divided and distracted.

These people probably have no real awareness of what's gathering around them.

I would like to say thats not true. Sadly, I can't. I think most are immune to looking more closely at the world around them until it bites them in the ass,

Well said. Thanks for the reply.

Metropolis

Brazil

THX 1138

Roller Ball (the original with James Caan)

I don't see another "Revolution" here in the US anytime soon. The tree maybe bending, but it hasn't snapped yet. And I don't think it would be a "Revolution" but rather a Civil War and it wouldn't be between the States, but as pointed out, between neighbors, neighborhoods and later cities. Some of the smaller towns would band together right at the get go of a financial collapse, while the cities would burn.

If the wealthy perceive a threat, they will pay good money for their protection. Kind of what a Warlord does these days and in the past.

And who is to say what wealth is? I drive a '99 Jeep that is bought and paid for and some could see that as being wealthy.

I think that it is time for people to stop being so cynical...and in some cases stupid and change the system from the inside out...again.

Get rid of outdated and redundant laws.
When some one in one of the three branches of Gov't is caught being corrupt, imprison them, don't let them resign or retire.
Get rid of "White collar" prisons. (Club Fed)
Slash EVERY Department and Agency budget by 25%.
Revise the tax code so that the average citizen can understand it. Establish a fair or flat tax. (I'm good with either one)
etc...etc...

I have been reading these comments and stories as well .
Earlier tonight I was lying down for a while in the quiet and I had a premonition , I saw a giant wall... on this side was frenetic frenzy as in now and on the other side was like a desert ,clean like a washed beach.
The feeling was that the old time is just about over and a new time is nearly here.
Like a line is or soon will be crossed.
It was like I could see this enormous wall from a far height. 1%