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Economic Collapse. Seven Years from Now…

September 3, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner 29 Comments

September 2020

Economic Collapse

 

It seems ridiculous to lock the door and arm the security system, but old habits persist even coated with an unlikely chance of returning. Shutting the door on Dallas, we head toward Arkansas before daybreak, the safest time to travel.

We take only what we can cram into our vehicle–mainly clothes, photos of the kids, and a few family heirlooms that won’t mean much to anyone else. I stuff my purse with a six-month supply of prescription medication, worthless cash to make me feel better, and important documents. Birth certificates are now needed to cross state lines. I check three times to make sure I still have them.

Along the bottom of the floorboard, John stacks quilts, canned food and water bottles. Jewelry is hidden underneath the rear compartment where the spare tire is stored. We may need it later.

Lucy rides in my lap, motionless. She sleeps most of the time, yet is still in good health considering her advanced dog age. Annabelle, warm against my thighs, curls next to her, unaware.

There were signs.

There are always signs.

For years everyone pointed fingers and slung accusations, everyone from Washington’s self-important talking heads to the regular Joe-Facebook complainer. George Bush is to blame. Bill Clinton started the whole mess promising homes to everyone. Obama armed the Syrian rebels seven years ago, leading to the destruction of Israel.

I don’t blame any one person or group. I blame everyone. I blame myself.

As other countries collapsed—Greece, Egypt, Syria, Portugal, Lebanon—the U.S. government continued handing down policy, keeping interest rates at rock bottom. Only the shrinking speculative market cheered. Individual states and cities went bankrupt, yet Congress debated stances with no real bearing on citizens. Natural disasters afflicted the planet, and America sent aid she didn’t have.

Bernanke pumped money into the system, and the stock market soared. With merely a whisper of Wall Street negativity, the market plummeted. Violent swings continued for years as Summers, the new Federal Reserve Chief continued Bernanke’s strategy of printing Monopoly money. When the market plunged twenty-five percent, people panicked, selling low. The next day stocks spiraled another thirty percent. People swarmed the streets, demanding answers, pulling money from banks to stuff beneath mattresses. Not that anyone saved money anymore. It had been decades since people really saved.

President Clinton, nearing the end of her first term, did little to calm the nation. The nation was too far gone. Unemployment soared. No one bought anything. Businesses folded.

When the Federal Reserve collapsed under the weight of its own debt, Clinton addressed the nation reporting that last year ninety-three percent of tax revenues went to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on U. S. debt.

Did we really think we could deficit spend our way to profitability?

Is anyone surprised?

A dark cloud now sits over the nation, thick and stifling like Panhandle dusters during The Great Depression. The world watches as Americans demand answers, steal to survive, loot to release tension. The National Guard attempts to keep order.

My family is thankful to still have the farm, the land. Things may be no better in Arkansas, but we will feel more secure among friends and family.I check my purse again for the birth certificates. Barring no problems on the road, we’ll be home in seven hours.

Mississippi County, Ar
Mississippi County, Arkansas
talya
Nothing mattered except states of mind, chiefly our own. –John Maynard Keynes
This was written for the Write Tribe Festival of Words Blogging Event.

Filed Under: Life, Writing Tagged With: creative writing prompt, debt ceiling, deficit spending, economic collapse, Write Tribe

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Comments

  1. mahabore says

    September 3, 2013 at 4:56 am

    Wow, that was quite something else…if any or all of the things that you have mentioned in this post come true, then this post might just be a foretelling of a bleak future…

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      September 3, 2013 at 1:08 pm

      Yes I believe a bleak future is headed our way without change.

      Reply
  2. anuymous dev says

    September 3, 2013 at 5:36 am

    Great POST!!!Its not only America but we Indian are also suffered by the wrath of economic downfall.Its everywhere.shame!!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      September 3, 2013 at 1:07 pm

      Thank you! I appreciate your comments, but hopefully this is only fiction.

      Reply
  3. J. Montrell-Stark says

    September 3, 2013 at 5:50 am

    wow.

    Reply
  4. Dot Hatfield says

    September 3, 2013 at 7:34 am

    Excellent writing – both style and content. A little scarey, but really excellent.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      September 3, 2013 at 11:18 am

      Thank you Dot! Coming from such an experienced writer, I’m flattered.

      Reply
  5. Jasmeet Kukreja says

    September 3, 2013 at 7:38 am

    It was completely new to me 🙂 This post hs content smthing different.
    thanks Sharing

    –Jasmeet
    http://emotestar.blogspot.com

    Reply
  6. Kathy says

    September 3, 2013 at 7:49 am

    This is so possible of happening it is scary. This was brilliantly written with intelligence. It was well thought out. We all can only hope that the country doesn’t continue on the downward spiral it is on.

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      September 3, 2013 at 11:19 am

      Thank you Kathy. Hopefully it won’t happen.

      Reply
  7. vaayadipennu says

    September 3, 2013 at 9:39 am

    well articulated and u gave a lot of information.. the two pictures are so beautiful.. starting with bleakness to the rise the way your post runs .. 🙂

    Pins

    Reply
  8. Shilpa Garg says

    September 3, 2013 at 10:12 am

    Wonderfully narrated. If this scenario comes true, it would be so unfortunate!

    Reply
  9. vishalbheeroo says

    September 3, 2013 at 10:48 am

    wow! dunno when the madness will ever end. we are living in tough times but I love ur way of writing:)

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      September 3, 2013 at 11:19 am

      Thank you so much! Yes, these are interesting times indeed.

      Reply
  10. Writercat59 says

    September 3, 2013 at 11:54 am

    Very bleak future you’ve envisioned, but possible with the continuing situation around the world. 🙁 Sad to think it could happen quite easily.

    Reply
  11. Dorothy Latimer Johnson says

    September 3, 2013 at 1:58 pm

    Excellent! Chilling, but so written so well. I fear for our country’s future.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      September 3, 2013 at 4:20 pm

      Me too Dorothy, but hopefully this is just fiction:))

      Reply
  12. Suresh Chandrasekaran says

    September 3, 2013 at 9:18 pm

    Let me hope that this is only fiction too! Too bleak a future to contemplate

    Reply
  13. sugandha says

    September 3, 2013 at 9:23 pm

    Talya copying your word from above….i hope it is just a fiction…the thought is scary…

    Reply
  14. G Angela says

    September 4, 2013 at 12:12 am

    I loved visiting your blog, your page is beautiful and inspiring – I liked your style of writing… nice to read even though it was frightening …

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      September 4, 2013 at 8:57 am

      Thank you for visiting. I hope you’ll come back:)

      Reply
  15. Donna Austin says

    September 4, 2013 at 3:06 am

    Love your writing and the story, though it may not be fiction. History repeats itself. Back in the Roaring Twenties, morals were low, dresses low and skirts short, liquor flowing, guns blaring, and people dead in the streets; then it happened, The Great Depression. When we fall to an all time low something has to happen to bring us back to our senses, and it ain’t gonna be a picnic.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      September 4, 2013 at 6:55 am

      I agree Donna. Everything is cyclical. I just read a book on the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. The similarities are eerie.

      Reply
  16. Patricia A. Laster says

    September 4, 2013 at 6:53 am

    Shudder, shudder. Well-written, & as Dot said, scary. It’s definitely out of fiction, but you know what they say about art and life……….xoxo

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      September 4, 2013 at 6:56 am

      Thank you Pat. I always appreciate your feedback!

      Reply
  17. Karan Shah says

    September 4, 2013 at 8:55 am

    brilliantly written…but hope it just ends in the story and doesn’t turn into reality

    you can check out my post here-
    Karan – Brother

    Reply
  18. Gayle Glass says

    September 4, 2013 at 9:10 am

    Very chilling. Makes me think about when I bought the lot next to my house years ago. I paid cash for it, in a foreclosure sale. My Mom said, “Well, you can always pitch a tent, because they can’t take the land away from you.”
    Nice thought…but what about property taxes??? worry worry worry

    Reply
  19. Barbara Tate says

    January 23, 2014 at 3:51 pm

    How did I miss this last year? It is so well written, but scary. I know it is fiction, but is it?

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      January 24, 2014 at 8:24 am

      Maybe you forgot?

      Reply

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Talya Tate Boerner


Hi! I'm Talya. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (Now Available!)

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