civilization collapse

1. shrinking energy for peasants http://www.bnd.com/sports/columnists/story/654250.html Average worker paychecks are worth less now than in 1973, but CEOs and other rich Americans not only make much more, they pay less in taxes. Click here to find out more! Average full-time workers made $41,198 in 1973 and $37,606 in 2008, adjusted for inflation. CEOs made 45 times as much as workers in 1973 and more than 300 times as much as workers now. The top tax rate was 70 percent in 1973 and just 35 percent now; taxpayers pay the top rate on the portion of taxable income that falls within the highest bracket and pay lower rates on income below that. The top rate for capital gains on the sale of stock and other assets was 36.5 percent in 1973 and 15 percent now. Irrational pay and tax cuts have generated a massive redistribution of income and wealth from workers to CEOs, hedge fund managers and others in the richest 1 percent. By 2006, the richest 1 percent had increased their share of the natio

Q: How is a house like a farm? How does it produce an income? A: When I flip it or when I rent it to tenants. 1. abandoned houses (farms) http://www.mint.com/blog/finance-core/modern-day-ghost-towns-of-abandoned-real-estate/ The cities here aren’t entirely deserted, of course, but they are examples of the cities that have been hit hard enough to lead residents to abandon their homes. Riverside County, California ...these houses were purchased by many people who wanted to buy bigger homes for the buck than they could get in LA and the OC, which of course led to an increase in speculative building and investing. It is estimated that in 2005, only 15% of area homeowners could actually afford their houses, with the remaining 85% living beyond their means or in adjustable rate mortgages that had not yet adjusted. The latter, once adjusted, would then prove to be unaffordable. North Los Angeles County, California ...Today, in Antelope Valley, for example, it is not unusual for long-term rent

1. U.S. Military Will Offer Path to Citizenship “The Army will gain in its strength in human capital,” General Freakley said, “and the immigrants will gain their citizenship and get on a ramp to the American dream.” ... Recruiters’ work became easier in the last few months as unemployment soared and more Americans sought to join the military. But the Pentagon, facing a new deployment of 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, still has difficulties in attracting doctors, specialized nurses and language experts. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/us/15immig.html 2. consider the Roman's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_citizenship Socii Further information: Foederati, Social War, and Lex Julia Socii or Foederati were citizens of states which had treaty obligations with Rome, typically agreements under which certain legal rights of the state's citizens under Roman law were exchanged for agreed upon levels of military service, i.e. the Roman magistrates had the right to levy soldiers for th