The best thing you could say about 2015 is that it wasn't as bad as 2013 or 2014 in terms of overt racial hate crimes. These mass shootings took off in 2012 actually. This year seems somehow a little saner if you don't count Donald Trump's incendiary remarks. But it was still pretty bad. There were no major elections this year so things couldn't get any worse than they already were. We'll know a whole lot more about the state of affairs one year from now when we review 2016. Thom Hartman still believes there is going to be a horrific economic crash during next year. It's a little hard to see how because the Federal Reserve has it in its power to either keep us out of recession or to cause a major crash next year and it's difficult to see how or why they would put us all at risk, and particularly the rich among us, and cause a stock market crash. I suppose some people would just like to see an economic crash because that's when Rich people "take a bath" financially, and they too know how it feels to be like the rest of us. My guess is that the Federal Reserve will move heaven and earth to prevent that from happening. They think they have all their bases covered, and maybe they do. People like Thom Hartman aren't entirely convincing in their reasoning as to what possible "economic mistake" the governmental powers that Be could be at this point.
I'll divert from my usual skepticism and just accept the Christmas story at face value this year. It's been pointed out that if Jesus were born today he might be accused of being a vagrant because the family was homeless. He could be arrested. Perhaps the child welfare people might even take the baby away because of the eccentric beliefs about religion his mother has. Of course there was a movie a year or two ago that pointed out that after Mary conceived her son that she went away for three months to a distant town and when she came back she was pregnant and the town's people were highly skeptical of her. We don't know if Jesus was home schooled or went to some rabinical school. If Jesus were home schooled today the scool might have its accreditation pulled. When Jesus was away from his parents for three days talking and reasoning with the priests and rabis, the cops would be called and Jesus could be taken away then and the parents arrested for child endangerment not knowing where their child was. Today if a child plays in the park for a few hours unsupervised it is cause for suspicion in this hyper letigious age we live in. Of course we all wonder what things formed Jesus' character between the ages of twelve and thirty. I guess people have written books on the subject but I haven't seen any satisfactory ones. Then when Jesus met John the Baptist he could be picked up by Homeland security for associating with known agitators. Of course you'd want to make sure the fisherman had all the appropriate licences and that their boats came up to government safety regulations. There is the scene where Jesus and his disciples wandered people's fields looking for food so you have to wonder whether Jesus would consider GMO products kosher or not. Of course there is still the basic problem of Jesus' message saying he was God in the flesh. Back then as now they consider you a little nutty if you say that and you could well be locked up for that. The whole idea of someone like Jesus being born now is an intriguing one. Maybe our society is beyond hope - - even for Jesus.
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