Thread: Decline of the West

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

OH, puh-LEASE! I'd LOVE to hear the highly-experienced and nigh-omnipotent opinion of a Kansas hockey player -- wait, isn't that an oxymoron?

All that seems so clear... may not be as clear as you would think brother lol!!

Heck - at one point and time - going by your handle, I might have rooted for you! Maybe : )

Economically, yes, the West is currently in decline. However, that falls within the parameters of the "normal" economic fluctuations I learned about in college. There are peaks, and there are valleys. Boom and bust. Bear and bull (but no Colt .45 commercials, please!).
With that in mind, one must consider the impact of goveurnmental interference on economic systems. Adam Smith wrote that the economic format which functions best is one in which goveurnment interferes least. I don't know if his opinion is in fact correct, and as far as I'm concerned, neither does anyone else. However, Socialist policies (U.K., France, Canada, etc.) seem to limit economic expansion. The U.S.A.'s policies of "adjusting for inflation" and apparent (over)regulation may well hamper economic development. I don't know. This is not to say that those policies do not address legitimate concerns. Laissez-faire just does not appear to be in ANY goveurnment's self-interest. Perhaps there is a fear of needing another bailout from a contemporary J.P. Morgan.

Originally Posted by earcutter

All that seems so clear... may not be as clear as you would think brother lol!!

Heck - at one point and time - going by your handle, I might have rooted for you! Maybe : )

If you ever chanted "GOLF LEAFS GOLF!" in March I probably heard you.

earcutter:
Are you doing this poll for a class?

In the early '70s I remember an ironworker down the union hall, who had been a professional mercenary, saying that Rhodesia would never give up apartheid. Hitler thought the third reich was going to reign for a thousand years and in the 1930's it looked pretty bleak for the rest of the world. If you are old enough to remember the fall of the soviet union you'll know how incomprehensible that was to those of us raised during the post WWII years. I remember when Khrushchev said of the West, "We will bury you." If the end of the world was going to come it was probably going to be by nuclear warheads between us and them. Who would have thought that the USSR would be no more and we would be in hock up to our eyebrows to their biggest rival, a Communist country that allows slave labor ?

In the USA there have been economic upheavals a few decades apart over the course of our nations history. The tech boom of the '90s was one of the longest runs of prosperity of my lifetime. If you really look at it, the so called American "middle class" is a phenomenon that only existed for a twenty to thirty year period in the mid twentieth century. The early years of the industrial revolution were no picnic. We've had tougher times in the past and I wouldn't count us out yet. We are a resilient people who have bounced back before and believe we will again. My long winded point is that there are a lot of variables and unknowns. We have the ancient Chinese curse, we live in 'interesting times.'

JimmyHAD;
You made some excellent points, especially about the middle class. My father has been saying that for 40 years.

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

If you ever chanted "GOLF LEAFS GOLF!" in March I probably heard you.

Well I have posted this on FB lol:

Randy Carlyle drawing up plays fot the Leafs in April.

earcutter:
Cute. He was a fine player, but not much of a human being (re: 1980s rape accusation). I wouldn't want to play for him.

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

earcutter:
Are you doing this poll for a class?

Waiting for an answer to this

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

earcutter:
Are you doing this poll for a class?

No, not this time - it's always debated though. With so many countries starting to place vast amounts of Chinese currency in their baskets though... Well, it kind of has me a bit concerned.