Winter in Russia
This winter is going to be long and dark. There are things that are going to happen both in my life and in the outside world.
As to my life, it will change dramatically pretty soon, and not for good, I will have to fight for something Real Big. I won’t disclosure details but it is what it is.
As to the bigger world, the global stage, too, doesn’t look promising. I only hope that this winter won’t turn into a nuclear one. I really do.
Because when spring comes, there will be a hope both for me and the world outside my window.
For now, this is it.
Winter of My Discontent?
So I was down at a local watering hole Wednesday afternoon whining to Roger that I completely blew my predictions about the world in ten years time. This was only August, seriously, how could the entire world change in such a short time?
Do you ever wonder about people from the Middle-Ages? They were born, lived their entire lives and died without anything at all ever changing. OK, to be honest I don’t think much about them either… but nothing changes? Not so much as new tack for the mule? These guys would rock it for a hundred years and nothing new would be created. That’s some boring assed-shit right there. And here I am and I cannot say for sure what will happen this Winter. Seriously, that’s totally messed-up. And did I mention it’s October?
OK there are a few things we can say: the economy in Europe is on the edge and the UK is actively trying to shove it over. Yes! The answer is more tax cuts for the rich! And we say we don’t understand the rise of populism, phhsss.
The Americans may also have a recession this Winter. But it will be mild and short. Why do I say that?
- The US produces more petroleum products than any other country in the world. They export over 3 million refined barrels a day.
- The US produces more food than any other country in the world.
- The US still has most of its industrial/manufacturing base.
The Americans will talk themselves into a mild recession. “The US unemployment rate rose to 3.7 percent in August of 2022, the highest since February and above market expectations of 3.5 percent.” Fox News will soil their diapers. “Unemployment under Brandon is unexpectedly high!!! The sky is falling because of Jewish space lasers and we will all be dead by the end of the week. Details at 10!”
The Americans will whine about having some of the cheapest gas (petrol) in the world and will talk themselves into a completely unnecessary recession. The war is good for the agriculture, arms, and petroleum industries in the US but these clowns will find a way to spin it as an economic negative. And all the Brits could come up with was more tax cuts for the rich. Amateurs.
This winter in my country….
Back in the late seventies, much of Britain had been going through a very rough time, now dubbed “The Winter of Discontent”. Sounds very Shakespearean, but it brings back memories of rolling industrial action that caused turmoil and eventually brought down the Labour Government and paved the way for Thatcher’s reign of over a decade.
Fast forward to winter 2022, and a warning to the Conservative party: what happened then could happen now, but the other way round. Ready to pounce on another disconsolate winter is the pretty inept Labour party opposition, who find themselves streets ahead in the polls. The Conservatives, under an equally inept new leader Liz Truss, will also have to deal with pissed-off trade unions, and an anger and restless gloom among not only much of Britain’s population, but inside the walls of their own party as well.
Already there are strikes within the rail industry that helps bring the country to a standstill every few weeks. Teachers, nurses and civil servants are all threatening to protest in similar fashion. Wage growth is spectacularly failing to keep pace with inflation which is racing away at a 40-year high. That’s delivering the biggest Sovietqueeze on consumer spending power for decades, and the natives are getting very, very restless. With energy bills this winter set to treble, (while the fat-cats that run these organisations get ever-wealthier), more and more people will fall into poverty, with the previously stable middle-class not immune.
The U.K.’s envied National Health Service is crumbling. A record seven million patients are waiting for treatment while 100,000 jobs within that sector remain unfilled. Anxiety, stress and depression are rising, leading to more issues with sickness absenteeism and employee retention, according to the independent NHS Pay Review Body.
The new government’s first major policy to react to all this? Tax cuts for the wealthiest. A decision they had to reverse within 48 hours. “Inept” is not sufficient to describe these buffoons that run my country.
Anger is rising throughout the population, and I can only see it getting worse as winter approaches. The unwelcome reverberations of the 1970s are becoming deafening as ever-more stagnation and hardship afflict the British people. I foresee riots on the street before the end of the year.