Michael Schaffer, in Obit Magazine:

For most people who weren’t counting on a paycheck from Lehman Brothers, the central drama of the 2008 collapse has been the more personal matter of their retirement savings and their property value. Unfortunately, those two things constitute the bulk of most families’ net worth.

The rug has been yanked away. But how to say farewell?

On a society-wide level, the year’s vibe also involves having to wrap our minds around a future where we’ll just have less -- less money, less power, less flexibility.

Clinton led a true superpower, the sort that had the economy to go with its armaments. A central facet of American life in the coming decade will be accepting the demise of that status. That we might not be such a country anymore creates a kind of vertiginous feeling, like stepping out a window in your childhood home only to realize that the balcony that’s been there all your life is gone.

From the archive:

In the 21st century, we "shy away from death," and we tend to think of a good death as a sudden one.

Not so in the 19th century. Dying well meant having time to assess your spiritual state and say goodbye -- which is difficult to do if you're killed in battle.

And of course:

Today I write not to gloat. Instead, I am writing to say goodbye.

Fuck you, Fuck you, Fuck you, You're cool... Fuck you, I'm out.

Finally:

Every 20 years or so, the end of America is nigh.