Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

["Beck, David A" <dabeck AT iupui.edu>]

Here is an interesting, albeit disturbing article, that sounds like a 
version of the U.S. as portrayed in Love in the Ruins.


RUSSIAN ANALYST PREDICTS DECLINE AND BREAKUP OF USA
Tue Nov 25 2008 09:04:22 ET

A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in 
the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is 
heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.

Professor Igor Panarin said in an interview with the respected daily 
IZVESTIA published on Monday: "The dollar is not secured by anything. 
The country's foreign debt has grown like an avalanche, even though in 
the early 1980s there was no debt. By 1998, when I first made my 
prediction, it had exceeded $2 trillion. Now it is more than 11 
trillion. This is a pyramid that can only collapse."

The paper said Panarin's dire predictions for the U.S. economy, 
initially made at an international conference in Australia 10 years ago 
at a time when the economy appeared strong, have been given more 
credence by this year's events.

When asked when the U.S. economy would collapse, Panarin said: "It is 
already collapsing. Due to the financial crisis, three of the largest 
and oldest five banks on Wall Street have already ceased to exist, and 
two are barely surviving. Their losses are the biggest in history. Now 
what we will see is a change in the regulatory system on a global 
financial scale: America will no longer be the world's financial 
regulator."

When asked who would replace the U.S. in regulating world markets, he 
said: "Two countries could assume this role: China, with its vast 
reserves, and Russia, which could play the role of a regulator in 
Eurasia."

Asked why he expected the U.S. to break up into separate parts, he 
said: "A whole range of reasons. Firstly, the financial problems in the 
U.S. will get worse. Millions of citizens there have lost their 
savings. Prices and unemployment are on the rise. General Motors and 
Ford are on the verge of collapse, and this means that whole cities 
will be left without work. Governors are already insistently demanding 
money from the federal center. Dissatisfaction is growing, and at the 
moment it is only being held back by the elections and the hope that 
Obama can work miracles. But by spring, it will be clear that there are 
no miracles."

He also cited the "vulnerable political setup", "lack of unified 
national laws", and "divisions among the elite, which have become clear 
in these crisis conditions."

He predicted that the U.S. will break up into six parts - the Pacific 
coast, with its growing Chinese population; the South, with its 
Hispanics; Texas, where independence movements are on the rise; the 
Atlantic coast, with its distinct and separate mentality; five of the 
poorer central states with their large Native American populations; and 
the northern states, where the influence from Canada is strong.

He even suggested that "we could claim Alaska - it was only granted on 
lease, after all." Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic 
Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored 
several books on information warfare.