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From: Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com>
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Subject: Re: "Castigo Cay" by Matthew Bracken
Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2025 20:43:08 -0700
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On 7/22/25 10:10, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> On 7/21/2025 11:35 PM, John Savard wrote:
>> On Sat, 19 Apr 2025 17:55:16 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>
>>> In the not so distant future, the USA Dollar has lost most of its value
>>> and annual inflation is running 20% per year.  Gasoline is $60 per
>>> gallon and rationed at 10 gallons per week, so is electricity.  Food and
>>> housing are comparatively expensive.  The taxes have gone up including
>>> new personal healthcare taxes and such.  Many people have left the USA
>>> looking for cheaper places to live.
>>
>> Financial collapse is perhaps the last disaster I would imagine to
>> hit the United States first and harder than anywhere else.
>>
>> But precisely because the United States seems to be the world's
>> wealthiest nation, I suppose that overconfidence can lead it to
>> make mistakes.
>>
>> John Savard
> 
> I think that financial collapse of the USA is the most prevalent future. 
>   The USA is deficit spending at 30% to 40% and the deficit is 
> increasing.  Keeping old people alive is very expensive as Medicare and 
> Social Security costs are rising rapidly (My wife and I are the 
> beneficiary of both).

	Actually what is running up the deficit is the Congress's failure to 
tax the
Very Well Off and the Extremely Well-Compensated at rates that would pay
for the cost of the wars we have been forced into on their behalf. The poor
fought in those wars and many lives of the poor were wasted in one way
and another with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrom and other problems.

	That has led to inflation in my lifetime of 1937-Now of prices of all
goods even those that are of little value. A coke was a nickel when I was
young and how expensive is it now?  I dunno because some years back
I gave up soft drinks as a regular thing in order to save money and also
at the same time gave up SF magazine subscription which I formerly had
to all the major magazines plus I bought English magazines off the news
stand and all that was given up to save money.
	Now last year in the Autumn I broke my ankle and did not know
that until in December when I saw a Orthopedic surgeon and saw
the X-rays.  On January 24th my surgery was done to fuse the ankle
and I was in the hospital from then until April 11th.

	The charge for a month in the Rehab facility was around $28,000
per month. The money was not going to the Nurses who took care of
a variety of patients but to the cost of a building in Downtown San
Francisco where it was situated about 4 blocks up and downhill
from my apartment where i have lived for the last 50+ years.

> 
> However, I do not know of any other country on Earth that is in very 
> good financial shape with even 1/10th of the population of the USA.

	How about Norway, Denmark and Sweden, Gemany and France, Japan
and India. China of course is its own case. Taiwan is doing well though we
are not supposed to consider it a nation.

> 
> The coming Codominion may shake things up though.

	???>
> Lynn
> 
	I perfer to imagine the advent of Renee Schaeffer's Concensus.  	In the 
near future I will post my review of her work "Ageless".

	bliss