FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
For the first time maybe since the Vietnam War or certainly since the civil rights movement, there are some darkening storm clouds on the civility horizon. A growing number of voices are continuing to suggest that if this economy doesn't turn around, and people can't start feeling optimistic about their futures again, we could be headed for some ugly scenarios. A new CNN poll says 48 percent of Americans think the country is headed for another Great Depression in the next twelve months. That is a stunning number. [cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/12/07/caff.money.art.gi.jpg]
James Carville, who in 1992 told Bill Clinton, "It's the economy stupid," says the current economy is so bad, there is a heightened risk of civil unrest. And unless things start changing for the better, it's a distinct possibility.
Our country is bankrupt and our government refuses to do anything about it. Unemployment is stuck above 9 percent. Millions of Americans are out of work, some for a number of years now. The value of peoples' homes is sinking below the break-even line. In the most recent jobs report, more than half of the private sector jobs that were added were at McDonald's.
For young people coming out of the nation's colleges and universities, their families having invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their education, the outlook is grim.
Add in the early record breaking heat in the cities in the East and we might not even have to wait until 2012. It could become a long, hot, ugly summer.
Here’s my question to you: What are the chances the U.S. economy could eventually trigger violence in our country?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
John:
The chances are getting better everyday. Deficit spending, uncontrolled illegal immigration, sky high unemployment, billions being sent to countries that hate us, out of touch government and the list goes on. It won't be long, Jack, and We the People will revolt.
Obama better forget about that money pit called Iraq-Afghanistan and start focusing on getting those public works jobs that Mark in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma:
he promised, or he will need those troops over here to maintain order in the streets. People are only going to put up with his economic incompetence for just so long.
Wilhelm:
Did the concentration of wealth among the aristocracy trigger violence during the French Revolution, Jack? How about the Russian Revolution or Germany in the 1930's? So yes, if it gets to the point where average working Americans feel totally hopeless and can't feed their families, it could lead to violence. It happened more than people know during the "Great Depression".
Michelle in Dover, Delaware:
If prices of gas, groceries and necessary items don't come down soon and if people can't get jobs to support their families then violence is definitely a possibility. We are a crumbling nation. Our politicians need to spend a month living on our wages and have to pay for groceries and gas and pay bills on OUR salaries and not theirs. They have NO idea what we working class citizens have to go through on a daily basis. I am surprised that American's haven't converged on Capitol Hill in protest already. It’s coming.
Ralph in Corpus Christi, Texas:
It already has triggered violence. I curse out loud and pound the dashboard every time I see gas prices go up.
Bull:
Jack, I'm 70 yrs. old and I fully believe that I will see violence in this country before I'm gone and it will not only be the economy that causes it. Just look what is going on along our borders. The American people have had enough. Mark my words.