crumbling to the ground

Everyday there's a news article or few about another U.S. corporation that's laying off its workers, cutting its budget, and struggling to turn higher and higher profits each quarter. The problem, of course, is not that these companies aren't making money, but that the companies aren't continually increasing their revenues. But it doesn't take an economist to figure out that there's no infinite amount of demand to continue to drive profits up. And when you continue to give raises to executives who make four-hundred-and-some times as much as the average worker (all the while when the stocks are falling), well, who's going to be able to afford the products? The system's about to implode despite all their efforts to stay on top. Like dwindling supplies of natural resources, there's no consideration to fixing the problems (okay, so "fixing" here would really mean abandoning the capitalist system) and taking preventative measures to protect the earth and the majority of its inhabitants...a real struggle for survival is going to emerge. So the people at the top are starting to round up the people they think might be troublemakers - better to jail them before anything drastic happens. Better to get that PATRIOT Act into permanent effect, better to make sure those air marshals shoot to kill. Better to make sure the majority of the people in society are scared and asking to give up their rights in lieu of the illusion of security.