2001 WILL NOT BE OUR YEAR, TREND SEER SAYS

World Is Against Us 'Dangerous' Americans

Get ready, America. If a trendmeister's predictions are on target, 2001
will be no walk in the park.

The Trends Journal, published by the Trends Research Institute in
Rhinebeck, N.Y., today announces its Top Trends of 2001.

And, with few exceptions, they are dismal:

* A wave of anti-Americanism will sweep the globe. American culture, "with
its emphasis on violence, mindless consumption, fake sex and real
stupidity," will be seen as "numbing and dangerous."

* A pre-recessionary economy will shape markets. The financial market dive
that began at the end of this year will continue through 2001.

* The war on drugs will lose its popular support. Citing "the inescapable
evidence of a racial basis to the failed drug war," the researchers predict
that resources will be redirected from fighting crime toward improved
treatment for addiction.

* Immigration will "inflame passions and become a major polarizing
political force." During leaner economic times, people tend to want to pull
in the welcome mat.

* Closed minds and continued polarization on everything from politics to
social issues will create a climate of conformity, stifle debate and place
America's leadership role in danger.

* The shop-till-you-drop mentality will come up against a declining
economy, turning "legions of spendthrifts into a corps of penny pinchers."
People will focus more on feeding their families, paying their bills and
filling the gas tank than on luxury cars or new kitchens.

* Russia and other former Soviet countries will back away from the 10-year
experiment in capitalism leading to a "Soviet Re-Union." There is a "strong
probability" that Russia and its former republics will be involved in a
civil war.

* Corporations will react to a slowing global economy by slashing their
workforces, a tactic the research institute calls "Corporate Dumbsizing II."

Instead of enhancing profitability, "trimming the already lean workforce
will further deplete the overworked and overstressed human assets who have
not recovered from the last loyalty-shaking round of 'dumbsizing' that
began in the 1990s."

Gerald Celente, editor and publisher of the journal, says the desire in
2001 will be "for stability and business as usual," but "it's unlikely
we're going to see that."

"The bad news is that there are rough times ahead. The good news is that
old systems are coming under attack and under question, and when something
dies, something new is born. This is the darkness before the dawn."

Happy new year.