Here are the posts you, our readers, found most interesting in 2012. Don’t recognize some? You might find them worth reading.
Did any of them make an impression on you? How do they read months later? Tell us in the comments!
- Japan can again become the land of the rising sun. We should watch and learn from them.
- Women dominate the ranks of college graduates. What’s the effect on America?
- Will China become a superpower?
- Should we despair, giving up on America?
- What does the future hold for the US Army – and America?
- Preparing for the Evacuation of Israel
- The global economy is sitting on a volcano. What happens next?
- Attention Americans: the Revolution has begun. You must choose a side.
- RIP, Constitution. The Second Republic died this week. Of course, we don’t care (that’s why it died).
- What every American needs to know about the Federal Reserve System
- Cyberwar, the Power of Nightmares
- We ask the mineshaft: what went wrong with the Tea Party Movement?
- “Some people just want to see the world burn”
- Still good news: global temperatures remain stable, at least for now.
- Europe has chosen a harsh future. All the paths for Greece lead into darkness.
- A letter from Lt Col Daniel L. Davis, who is a fulcrum that can move a nation – should we choose to help him
- Roubini tells us some harsh truths about the present and future of the world economy
- Doug Macgregor explains how our military reached its current state, so only desperate reform can save us
- A look at forecasts for peak oil – and the end of civilization
- Our rulers are skilled at running information operations (but less so at running America)
All time top posts, from our start in November 2007 (excluding those listed above)
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- Obama makes his first major policy error
- A solution to our financial crisis
- Peak Oil Doomsters debunked, end of civilization called off
- An article giving strong evidence of global warming
- What will America look like after this recession?
- Everything written about the economic crisis overlooks its true nature
- A major leak of government secrets – read all about it!
- More about pirates: why we no longer “hang them high”
- Good news about global warming!
- A picture of the post-WWII debt supercycle
- Update: why has the worst recession since the 1930′s had so little impact on the economy?
- Why has the worst recession since the 1930′s had such a mild effect on America?
- The media doing what it does best these days, feeding us disinformation
- This crisis will prove that Americans are not sheep (unless we are)
- Please read this. For the sake of yourself, your children, and their children
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Some articles worth reading that did not appear on the FM blog:
“How Ronald Reagan Unwittingly Laid the Groundwork for the Death of Capitalism.”, Beggars Can Be Choosers, Feb 2012 — Almost no one seems to have made the point that the GOP-endorsed policies that are currently wrecking America were first set in motion by Ronald Reagan.
“Totalitarianism in the US: An Accident Waiting to Happen.”, Agonist. Makes a convincing case for the analogy twixt right-wind rhetoric and Soviet Pravda-style propaganda.
Article about the implications of our increasingly authoritarian treatment of children in schools, A blog about School, October 2012
“The Perils of Privilege”, Mutant Poodle, 18 Sept 2012. Explains a lot about the manifold dysfunctions and idiocies of America’s elites. FM has asked “Are our leaders on goof gas?” No, they’re just so disconnected from the real world that they act as if they are, and this article does a good job of explaining why and how this hapens.
“Money and power“, Agony in 8 Fits, Feb 012. Lethally detailed revelation of Megan McArdle’s profoundly corrupting ties to her paymasters, the Koch brothers. Articles like this never seem to appear in the mainstream media, yet explain a great deal of the bizarre advice offered by pundits like David Brooks, Tom Friedman, Megan McArdle, et al.
“The four types of conservatives”, Vagabond Scholar. Illuminating cartography of the hellish moonscape misnamed contemporary conservatism.
“Privileged rich douchebag: the Mitt Romney narrative for 2012”, the Reaction, Jan 2012. Significant because pathological cases like Romney now run America, both from the corporate boardroom and from positions of power in Washington and the U.S. media.
“Who is John Galt?”, Drift Glass, August 2012. Savage satirical dissection of the delusional worldview of conservatives. The photoshopped illustration that tops the article is worth the read just by itself.
“You’re not supposed to pull the ladder up behind you”, They Gave Us A Republic. Good summary of many of the attitudes that are destroying America.
Since I am new to this site I missed all or most of the above posts. I am also not sure whether to post my coments here or at the original article so if I am choosing incorrectly please disabus me. With regard to Japan, Americans may be reading Japan wrong. If you havn’t already done so I strongly recommend that you read Eamonn Fingleton’s In the Jaws of the Dragon: America’s Fate in the Coming Era of Chinese Dominance (2008).
It is about Japan and China as well here is a Wikopedia link.n
Feel free to post on either or both posts!
Reviews of Fingleton’s book:
“Eamonn Fingleton’s In the Jaws of the Dragon: America’s Fate in the Coming Era of Chinese Hegemony“, Review by Thom Hartmann, Truth-Out, 18 March 2009
“America’s Fate Under Chinese Hegemony: A Review of Eamonn Fingleton’s Jaws of the Dragon“, Ian Fletcher, Huffington Post, 30 April 2011
Thanks but since I read Fingleton references that challenge him would be of interest to me.
RE: the weakness of China
There is a large body of experts who believe China has structural problems as serious — or more so — than the US. They’ve outgrown their economic and political models, always long and difficult to change. They’ve passed the Lewis Point, have massive private and public sector loan burdens, and demographic headwinds (“China will grow old before it grows rich”).
Perhaps the best place to start reading about China’s weaknesses is China Financial Markets by Michael Pettis (Prof Finance, Peking U).
And, of course, we’ve covered this at the FM website in these posts about China’s weaknesses:
Thanks. I’ll work my way through that.
Will China become a superpower?, 9 September 2011.
Goes to show, that just because you have read a lot of history is not the same as an understanding of same. Conclusions draw on shaky historical grounds, like the reason for building the Trancontinental railroad, or comment on the “Norse” without having knowledge of the differences between the “Norse” from present day Denmark and Norway. And there are many more example of oversimplification in drawing conclusion on the future of China by extrapolate certain events in Chinese history..
Re: “Will China become a superpower?”
A reminder, althougth you probably noticed, this post was by guest author Young J. Kim.
Yes, I did notice that the post was from Young J Kim and I did find his article interesting although I disagreed in some of his historic extrapolation and in some of his historic “facts” it was still worthwhile reading.
Thanks for the feedback on the post!