Hmmm... DCFM and Casey I think you have tripped upon something I hadn't contemplated until the last few days.

Although it has nothing to do with my current career, my university schooling was in History and Political Science, particularly focused on 1920-1950. This discussion and the current world situation is making my spider senses tingle.

I just read a very interesting document about the rising wealth of the top 1% of Americans and the total wealth held by the top 0.5%... in addition the disparity between the rich and poor. Interestingly, the last time in history where this was matched was 1929. Now... that of course rings plenty of bells as it precedes the stock market crash, Great Depression and WWII. All of these happened rather quickly over the next decade.

Casey just mentioned this 'right' and 'left' converging in protest against the center. That too happened worldwide. There was an enormous rise in reactionary and revolutionary movements globally, resulting in Fascist and Communist parties gaining increasingly more power & support. Contrary to most peoples perception, these two polar opposites were not so opposite at that time. Both were militant, autocratic and led by a cult of personality. They both provide solutions to the plight of the everyman, complete with aggressive 5-year plans for growth and prosperity. In fact, for the most part they were indistinguishable & were basically eating away at the center 'status quo' which had become increasingly rich and less representative of the masses.

I see a direct link to today. People are rising and gaining a voice. The former majority is slowly becoming the minority as the poor and 'soon to be poor' (middle class) begin to recognize the state of the world. Obama and his call for hope was promising, but in the end empty. Be it his fault or not, there is no way to 'change Washington from within', this is mission impossible. The casino is rigged and the bodyguards will turf anyone caught trying to circumvent their processes where they always win. He sold out to this. Hope died.

Be it the Tea Party, Michael Moore, or the guy stumping on Wall Street... there is a hodge-podge of ideas and purposes, both left and right... but unified against the center. This can only lead in my mind to a direct challenge. If this challenge appears for real, the extreme left and the extreme right may actually see a benefit in uniting in order to remove the Status Quo. Weirder things have happened... Hitler and Stalin has a 'pact of steel', the communists and fascists fought the PTB in the streets and only really turned on one another when the center was thoroughly defeated. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". I see a lot of people who have gathered with widely different views on what needs to change, but unified in the need for change. Perhaps this will be the spark that lights a real fire.

The problem is... when the fire consumes society and the friends begin to realize their differences again. I'm not so sure if it was a threat or a promise when we were told "may you live in interesting times'...

This is only a theory and only my opinion… feel free to read the tea leaves differently.

Soul