2023 Will Be A Calamitous Year | By Louie Overstreet
January 17, 2023 by agutting@reviewjournal.com
Filed under Community
BY LOUIE OVERSTREET
Louie Overstreet
My prediction is based on three conditions: an increasingly chaotic world order; economic uncertainty; and a tumultuous political climate.
Sadly, the United Nations is all pomp and no circumstance — so it is utterly useless in impacting crises in Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Israel. The United Nations stands idly by as Russia creates daily crimes against humanity in Ukraine. North Korea is rapidly developing the ability to place nuclear warheads on ICBMs. Iran is oppressing its people — especially women — and supplying Russia with drones that are used to attack civilian targets in Ukrainian cities. Also, not helping world peace matters, Israel is returning to power, for a third time, the zealot Benjamin Netanyahu — who tries to embarrass America every chance he gets.
Our nation has rarely seen, at the same time, economic indicators of low employment, job vacancies, rising annual deficits and national debt, the wage gap, all topped with a good helping of inflation. That means predicting the near future of economic prosperity, a soft or hard recession, is about as certain as winning the Powerball — which has a probability of 1 in 292,201,338.
While it is far from a certain proposition to predict what is in store for our economy, predicting that America will experience political turmoil, as we say in Vegas, is a sure thing.
As a kid, I saw every “Three Stooges” movie ever made — but I am willing to give odds that none will be as funny as the debate and division that will occur on the House side of the Capitol building. There will no longer exist a need to change the filibuster rule, now that the Repugs will be in control of the House. No significant bills will be passed. Also, expect the Biden/Trump (also known as the Octogenarian v. Septuagenarian) potential rematch to remain the best circus act in town, until mid-summer.
The biggest casualties of this calamitous climate will be world peace, economic certainty and political stability. Ain’t it a damn shame?
