Sign of the Apocalypse: Signs of the Apocalypse

It could just be the holiday season, but we here at the Fourth Corner feel inclined to do a multiple "Signs of the Apocalypse" in less than a week: first one involving cannibals, then one on GM's Canadianess (though not labeled as a 'Sign', anything with Canada is potentially apocalyptic), and then there was the CBS host advising you on what to do with your 'special woman's' special place, a sign of Doomsday if ever there was one.

On top of cannibalism, Canada, cars and that weird guy talking about hoo-hahs, we can now add TOTAL GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS OF DOOM! Really. Well, at least according to the Washington Post. Dubai World, once the desert beacon of excess and stupid spending--and the idea to combine Las Vegas indulgence with Muslim restraint is, by definition, stupid--is now defaulting on $30 Billion dollars in loans. Other places that have done that: Russia and South Korea.

So, why Dubai? Who cares? Here's the trick: our global economy is a house of cards, and if we start to become more isolationist--which this PEW poll just said we were becoming--then that house of cards will tumble into a horrible pit of despair. It's not that we should care about Dubai itself, but it's an indicator.

Economies best function like assembly lines, where each country or region has their own job to do to help build a good economy. China exports. The West finances. South America mines. But as soon as one person on that assembly line goes off the grid and moves to Northern Idaho with an arsenal of guns and starts charging tolls for anyone who wants the right to pass through his mountain road peacefully, things really go to shit.

Worse yet, during that last economic meltdown, we only ingrained ourselves further into the wacky world of globalism. China increased its exports instead of focusing on developing a consumer base in its own country. American indebted itself further to help finance its own, well, finances.

To balance out the charts, we'll need inflation because it's a lot easier to pay down our debts by printing a bunch of money than by actually repaying our debts. Trouble is, the world is sort of dependent on the American dollar to gauge how much their currencies are worth. Again, house of cards.

So what's the way out? Well, there are all sorts of metaphors for that: culling the herd, , shedding some pounds, restructuring, efficiency overhauls, summer shutdown, tightening the belt, etc. Maybe we all resort to cannibalism for a bit, or move to Canada to wait it out, or outsource our medical care to the cast of Grey's Anatomy, but this much is true: we'll survive. Unless we don't.