When, if ever, do you think our society will crumble and the dollar become worthless?

People said the same thing when Y2K was approaching. Remember that, the turn of the millennium? When January 2, 2000 was approaching, people predicted communication would go down, the electrical grid would shut off, we’d be starving and it would be chaos. The clocks struck midnight and nothing happened.

There’s always someone predicting something. For 12/12/12, which was apparently the latest date in the Aztec calendar or something, people thought that signalled the end of the world. That date came and went, too.

Meh. Next!

I remember all of that. It gives me hope. But this time something seems different. The stock market was down 531 points on Friday, my friends are losing at least a hundred thousand dollars on stocks and grocery prices plus earthquakes are increasing drastically. Look up a chart on how earthquakes have increased . And when have we ever paid five bucks for a bottle of milk until now? Many experts are dumping stocks and switching to cash. Oil is thirty nine dollars a barrel.

Oh, I think it will happen, but not next month. it’s more likely to happen in a couple of hundred years when the Islamic Caliphate (which will control half the world) gets into a nuclear war with the remaining western countries.

I can’t think of how many “the world will end next year/month/week” alarmists have been around for the last 50 years. And they have all been wrong.

Go ahead and stock up on dried food if you want, but nothing is going to happen. People make lots of money scaring people.

I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure the the dollar will collapse first, resulting in the societal crumble.

Earthquakes have increased due to fracking.

The stock market has its ups and downs. It’s a market. It fluctuates. Same with oil prices. They go up, they go down. No biggie.

@elbanditoroso “Go ahead and stock up on dried food if you want, but nothing is going to happen.”
I thought things were already happening. Maybe not for you but for many , many people the stock market has been a major disaster coupled with rising food prices. Add beheadings by ISIS and the Pacific Northwest threats of a tsunami and you have a situation that is very scary. They say that , in New York, the grocery shelves would be bare in two hours during a major crisis. And look at the fires and historic drought in California. No wonder the grocery prices are skyrocketing. We get most of our fruits and vegetables from California. Those are just a few of the things happening as we speak. I know many younger couples in the oil business here in Texas. Their paychecks have been cut in half and their wives are now selling things at flea markets.

People always predict movie like catastrophes that never happen.
I do believe that eventually the economy and societies will collapse, but I predict that such downfalls are progressive, and do not happen overnight. Hell, maybe it’s already happening. But we adapt, and fail to notice, or fail to recognize it because we use such examples as you listed as plausible scenarios.

Beef is expensive in Canada. $70 for a roast. That’s why I buy beef bones and cook in the stove for 30 minutes.

@Aster that list of hardships is impressive. And I agree that the one thing disguising the overall decline of the country is that all of these problems occur in different regions of the country leaving the totality difficult to appreciate. But considering the slide in economic circumstances now defining most of us, all that is required to unmask the reality is any nationwide shock. And to my mind, no threat short of nuclear war would be as devastating as a slide in the dollar.

@Aster I kind of wish everything would collapse, just to get it over with. haha

Since CA. is in a drought and we supply massive amounts of agricultural products nationwide prices are up as water is a tight resource here with the 4 year, record setting, drought we are experiencing.
CA. provides more than half the nations fresh fruits, nuts & vegetables is the #1 dairy state, and our leading commodity is milk and cream, followed by grapes and we are the largest exporter of Almonds. Nationally, 99% or more, of these exclusively grown products, almonds, artichokes, dates, figs, pistachios, prunes, raisins, persimmons, clover and walnuts come from CA. as do 70–80% of olives.

We are also the leading producer of strawberries with 700 million dollar industry.
We also produce 25% of the onions and 43% of green onions, plus tons of melons.
We also boast being the Garlic capitol of the world. haha

With so much being exported and this drought, prices have skyrocketed. Also, the egg industry has lost 100,s of thousands of birds due to the avian flu so eggs are astronomical as it will take several years to build up egg production again after the flu epidemic in the poultry industry. We have 8 hens here so not an issue for us. Yep, more people will keep backyard chickens I predict.
The central valley farms and ranches a few hours from me are struggling to keep their orchards and crops and vineyards alive in this drought. We have lost trees here too, it’s a harsh situation.

Who knows, but we are circling the drain no doubt. It’s only a matter of time until the leaky plug gets pulled. lol

We are in a unique position here, because out of all the nations in the world, we alone are able to disguise our troubles by printing money. Nearly everything that matters is priced in dollars, and we should all pray that things remain that way. There are serious moves afoot to decouple the dollar as the world’s benchmark, but even proponents of this realize that they dare not bring this about abruptly.

When the states can no longer pay it’s debts or raise the debt ceiling. Maybe 2050.

We are twenty trillion in debt and growing everyday but our government is covering it up by printing more and more money. When has this happened before?

Our infrastructure is in piss poor shape but we have some time, September will come and go. That’s the thing with the conspiracy/end of the world fear mongers. They have to keep that carrot just out a little. After September it will be some shit in the spring, then next winter….

Keep some supplies but don’t buy into the hype. I guarantee you problems will happen but nobody can predict when they will occur.

I do not worry about a big disaster or the country falling apart. I prepare.

It snows here. Sometimes a lot. Around here, most reasonable people keep a moderate stock of supplies handy so they don’t have to run out in a panic when a storm hits. They hunker down and enjoy the ride.
I am maybe a little overboard since I can last a long time if the grid goes down. A looong time. I keep a supply of fuel, heating oil, and enough wood to heat my house for years. A deep well for drinking water. I have solar cells to charge batteries, plenty of canned food – plus ammo stashed away for hunting or whatever. I recently purchased some powerful pellet guns that can shoot in the supersonic range. They are back up for the backups.
I am prepared for most disasters.

Is the world coming to an end, again? If it is isn’t Y2K then it is nuclear holocaust. Then there are the believers in the Apocalypse who regularly announce that we are living in the end times and you better start believing in Jesus.

The sad thing is that none of these people seem to believe in climate change, which is for real and is partially responsible for the extreme weather we are experiencing and will eventually be disastrous. Climate change is reversible if we act promptly, but preachers of doom and gloom are always of the belief that things are out of our control.

Because interest rates are low the U.S. stock markets have been overbought for some time, so we’re probably really seeing a ‘correction’ event.
If you have all your eggs in the stock market basket then keep ‘em there and ride the recovery.
I know, I know, China, that kind of thing comes and goes. Avoid being reactive, wait a year.

Major global collapse of society? Not yet. If the various effects of global climate change kick in, however, then be prepared for deadly weather, crop failures, social systems breaking down, martial law, feudal lords, mad max, ...

Quoting the lines from “The Hollow Men” (1925) by T. S. Eliot, “This is the way the world ends—Not with a bang but a whimper.” As with the Great Depression, the economy of the whole world will collapse. It likely will happen in my lifetime; I am 75. The bottom line is the lack of gainful employment.

ISAL is driving millions to the west where unemployment is already a major problem especially for young adults. Changes in the pattern of weather brought on by rising air and ocean temperatures will exacerbate the problem of limited supplies. The rising cost of food and water and too many hungry mouths will cause a breakdown in social structures that will first appear in large cities and gradually trickle down to rural areas.

Roaming bands of armed people will overwhelm attempts by police and the military of all countries to control them. The last line of the song “The Merry Minuet” by the Kingston Trio says it well, “What nature doesn’t do to us will be done by our fellow man.”

I never said nor do I believe the world is coming to an end. I think our society, as we know it, is beginning to crumble. Just in the initial stages now.
I guess nobody is looking at the stock market today. Imagine having a lot invested in stocks , have a big mortgage then lose your job. It would be a major nightmare. I hope welfare doesn’t go broke because, if it does, there will be rioting and looting in the streets in the big cities.

Aster – read this article

The stock market is acting normally.

If the USA tried a stunt like paying off the national debt by printing 18 trillion paper dollars then hyperinflation would result and drive the value of the USD close to zero. Then people would trade with gold, silver, commodities (goods and services) in order to survive. Meanwhile the government would sweep in and take over everything while millions starve.

Our society has been in a state of slow decay for several years now and it’s just a matter of time before the carcass is totally consumed. When this will happen is unknown because the catalysts of this decay have been good at covering their tracks and many people are unaware and will be surprised, shocked, and dismayed when the decay is complete.

@CorneliusHerkermer Welcome to fluther and I love your descriptive writing. Yep, the dung beetles are circling. lol

@Coloma. Thank you for the welcome and I believe Fluther will be my home for some time. Thank you also for the kind words and I like the dung beetle description. lol