This is a posting that looks at the attacks in India and what it means for us here in America. Prepare for the American Age of the Survivalist.

 

Just this week I wrote this about President-elect Obama and the economic crisis we all face.

 

Besides the domestic details, we also don’t know what effect foreign affairs will have on the budget. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still a drag and we’re not pulling out anytime soon. And who knows what else will happen.

 

What else might have just happened.

 

It’s not a coincidence that the attacks occurred as Americans celebrated a holiday; most of us are still watching on TV as I write this. That’s what I’m doing this Thanksgiving Weekend.

 

It’s also no coincidence that the attacks happened during our transition of presidential power.

 

And when you consider that Americans and Brits were targeted by the terrorists, you understand that the terrorists – whether they’re al Qaeda or some splinter group – that the best time to attack is during a financial crisis. Dictators like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini came to power during the Depression.

 

But there is far more to think about – like nuclear war.

 

Remember that India and Pakistan are nuclear powers on each other’s borders and they hate each other. Reports say the terrorists who were captured appeared to be Pakistani.

 

Stratfor offers a sobering look ahead. If it appears that Pakistan, some of its terrorist citizens, or its secret police are involved (and it does appear that way), then it will force India’s government to react with force to reassure the masses in India. That means these two could be on the brink of war.

 

That will mean more troops from America and NATO. In addition to Obama’s goal to send more troops to Afghanistan, you have to wonder where will the money come from when you consider the hundreds of billions (really trillions) created for the financial crisis.

 

Don’t think this will be the economic equivalent of World War II. Yes, some argue that the Second World War was the real economic stimulus that pulled us out of The Great Depression. Do we want that? Not in the nuclear age.

 

What does the attack on Mumbai mean for all of us here?

 

This kind of attack – more coordinated than 9/11 and the British and Spain train attacks — could always happen here. So, our guard will be up. That’s more American money spent on security – not mortgages and car loans.

 

I think these attacks and the impending and enduring financial crisis will lead to a new era. No, it’s not the era of liberal government. It will be the era of the American Survivalist.

 

I don’t think the end of this financial crisis is near. The new $800 billion stimulus yesterday for car and home loans will only cover a small portion of people who have equity in their homes and a solid job. For so many more who are upside down on their homes and without jobs, that money will never reach them. As a result, the American consumer cannot jump-start the American and the worldwide economy. That will lead to even more bankruptcies and further job losses.

 

Add to that, the terrorist guerilla groups know their efforts also cause economic havoc. The World Trade Center was not only a military target but a symbolic target for Osama bin Laden. The 9/11 attacks helped force us away from an age of economic stability and budget surpluses into an era of deficit spending on the sporadic war on terror. I used to stand in long lines at the airport and here people curse bin Laden. Now we’re paying for it directly out of our pockets and out of our homes.

 

As more people here in America become more pessimistic about the future, they will begin fortifying their homes with food, guns, and cash. That mentality is already the foundation of many folks – God-fearing and law abiding folks, I might add – out here in the Western U.S. We will not only fear our enemies outside the U.S., but our neighbors who will be so desperate for food and shelter.

 

Let me pile on the gloom even more. My good friend, John Alexander PhD, an expert on non-lethal warfare and a strategist on world affairs, told me at lunch this week that the next new hot spot will be The Sudan – on the border of Darfur. It’s simple, he says. There’s plenty of oil there. And there will be fights between northern Sudanese who are Muslim who want the oil in South Sudan which is occupied by African Christians.

 

We are truly connected to the rest of the world more than ever. For many of us, we might have a tendency to retract within ourselves.

 

As I re-read this, I am amazed at my pessimism and fear for our country. Why am I seeing these facts and events in this dark light?

 

There are a few reasons. My parents lived through the Depression. It had a monumental effect on my Dad. He died in 1984, but his recollections still speak to me. My grandfather was a prominent doctor. Yet during the Depression, my Dad told me, Grandpa would have a day of patient visits and have only a head of cabbage to show for it.

 

Maybe I’m looking back romantically and nostalgically. Maybe I think this is our time to show our strength like that generation – the Greatest Generation during World War II as Tom Brokaw writes. It toughened those folks.

 

Maybe I’ve watched too much of the now-cancelled HBO series Carnivale or I’ve read and remembered too much of Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.

 

My advice: be on alert; and protect yourself and those you love. It’s going to be tough. But let me add this that was at the end of an email signature I received this week. It reads: 

“Above all, be kind.” Mother Teresa

 

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