By: Scott Morefield

Despite the best prognostications of the ancient Mayans, Jim Jones, the Millerites, Heaven’s Gate, and a gazillion other doomsday cults and would-be prophets who predicted we’d be long gone by now, it looks like 2013 will be coming right on schedule, with bells on. So, with Christmas behind us and the New Year fast approaching, in the spirit of armchair prophecy and prognostication I’d like to offer a few things I expect to continue into the New Year. If I’m correct, don’t expect me to go around trying to start my own doomsday cult (and don’t ask to join it!). After all, these tea leaves aren’t really that hard to read!

(Note: These prognostications are mine alone and aren’t necessarily the opinions of Luttrell Staffing Group!)

1.) The dollar will continue to decline in value

Currently the amount of national debt is beyond our ability to repay, and increasing exponentially with no view of mitigation in sight. Meanwhile, the Fed continues to rob the middle class by printing notes that aren’t backed by anything except the ‘promise’ of the government, a promise that has nothing whatsoever to do with the amount of goods and/or services that dollar can purchase. It’s simple economics – the more notes that are printed, the less each individual dollar is worth.

2.) The President and Congress will continue to fiddle while Rome burns

Maybe they’ll find some ‘solution’ to extend the debt ceiling, raise taxes, or even decrease the rate at which government programs and entitlements are slated to increase (these days, the bozos in Washington call that a ‘cut’), but the Titanic has long since hit the iceberg. Expect the ‘powers-that-be’ to do nothing substantial except play golf, attend lavish parties, and pander to special interest groups.

3.) The economy will see no significant gains, and possibly may lose ground

With more and more provisions of Obamacare beginning to take effect, business these days are scared to death. They, unlike many politicians, know socialism doesn’t work and eventually bankrupts nations. They know it leaves a trail of destruction and devastation that makes Pompeii look like Hawaii, but hey, we’re going to try it anyway with nothing less than our health and the health of our kids. Good luck with that!

4.) There will be more shootings, they will continue to be highly-publicized, and the mass media will continue to focus on guns instead of solutions that work.

2012 ended on an especially low note with the mass-murder of 20 children and 6 adults in Newton, CT, in addition to several other nationally publicized shootings. But make no mistake, ever since Cain killed Abel, mankind has always found ways and reasons to kill each other. This will not change. ‘Outlawing’ the tool only leaves that tool in the hands of the law-breakers and out of the hands of those who wish to defend themselves. But leave it to the media and politicians to never let a good crisis go to waste – they will continue to exploit public sympathy to gain power for themselves.

5.) More of our liberties will disappear in the name of ‘security’

The 24-hour news cycle and constant media hype that brings seemingly every horrific crime and act of terrorism right to our doorstep is great at making us not only fear the (however remote) possibility that it could happen to us, but also makes us want to DO something, anything, to prevent that horrific thing from happening again. The visceral reaction of all of us to tragedies like 9-11 or the Newton, CT massacre is completely natural. What is not natural is being manipulated and deceived into trading our liberties for a false sense of security.

6.) More natural disasters will continue to remind us that, despite the wonders of modern technology, we aren’t really in control of much of anything.

Not much more comment needed on this, sadly.

Well, those are six things I predict, and there’s nothing pretty about any of them. Yes, many amazing and wonderful things will also happen in 2013, but we’re certainly living in interesting times. Digging out of the predicament we have put ourselves in as a nation is going to be a tough road. Even the most optimistic among us might say it’s easy to lose hope in the midst of such odds, but it’s good to be hit in the face with some perspective now and then:

If the gravitational force that binds the universe were any stronger or weaker than exactly what it is, stars would not burn at the precise heat and rate they must burn for life to exist.

If the electromagnetic force of the universe were any stronger or weaker than exactly what it is, chemical bonding would either be disrupted or too weak for life chemistry.

If the ratio of gravitational force to electromagnetic force were any larger or smaller than exactly what it is, all the stars, including the sun, would either be too large or too small to support life.

If the ratio of the number of protons to the number of electrons were any different than exactly what it is, gravity would be dominated by electromagnetism, and the universe wouldn’t exist.

If the universe were expanding at a different rate than exactly the rate that it is expanding, either no galaxies would form at all or the universe would collapse before any stars were formed at all.

If the velocity of light were any faster or slower than exactly what it is, the stars would either be too bright or not bright enough to support life.

If the decay rate of protons were any different than exactly what it is, life would either be exterminated or would never have been able to exist in the first place.

On and on we could go, but one thing remains exactly the same as it always has been and always will be – the God that made the universe holds it in His hand. No man knows the date or hour of His return and restoration of all things, but no matter how chaotic the world may seem to us, nothing happens, not even a sparrow’s passing, without His knowledge.

In an age as crazy as ours, that sure is good to know!