Travis Parish
“I worry about what the government will do, because Obama isn’t concerned with being reelected.
“I think the economy might collapse and the stock market might crash in 2013, and we could see a really bad depression. We in Houston, Mo., won’t feel it as bad as people in the big cities, because we’re more self-sufficient. But they don’t know how to grow their own food or go out and shoot a deer for meat. It’ll get tough on a lot of businesses, too, and a lot of people will have to get leaner on stuff because they’ll have to.
“I also see another weapons ban coming. It probably won’t be as major as what it was back in the 90s when they did the Brady Bill, but they’ll probably try to ban everything that holds more than 10 rounds and they’ll probably go after assault weapons. But what’s the point? The people causing the problems with guns don’t abide by the laws anyhow, so a ban won’t fix things.
“And something needs to happen with all the people taking handouts, or things are going to be in real bad shape. We’re already up to something like 47 or 48-percent; if we cross over that 50-percent mark and there’s less people working than not working, who’s going to pay for it? That’s scary.”
Jeremy Dillon
“As much as is going on with the economy and everything else, I’m still really looking forward to 2013 and it’s going to be a great year for me. I’m going to have my first child and I’m going to get married, so it’s going to be one of the best years of my life. Everything seems to be falling in place; I bought a house last year, I’ve got a good job and a good woman. I know a lot of people were upset with the election and a lot are concerned about health insurance and things like that, but we all have to just live out lives one day at a time, enjoy the time we have, and hope for the best. Hopefully, our economy will get back on track and there won’t be any crazy school shootings.
“But for me in general, 2013 is going to be awesome and in all honesty I can’t wait.”
Pattie Rust
“If things go the way the government seems to want them to go, I think it’s going to be tougher for people. But I think everything is going back to hands-on, and it won’t be so much about the big careers, but trades, and small businesses are going to be very important.
“When we were doing everything ourselves in the U.S., we were thriving. Now we’re having too many things done by other people, even in other countries. We need to get back to where it’s more hands-on and we’re doing it ourselves again.
“I really think if we don’t get a lot of things fixed, we’re going to be hurting. People in the government need to realize they’re all on the same side, but it’s like a big contest instead. If they all came together and figured things out as a whole, I think we could get somewhere.”
Jesse Bonner
“I think that no matter how you cut it, the year is going to be however you make it. If you think things are going to be rough coming into a year, then they’re going to be rough. World events are always what you make of them. Woodrow Wilson said, ‘never waste a good crisis.’ It all comes down to what you believe and what your perspectives are. If you think that the current crisis is a big deal, then to you it is. Thomas Jefferson believed that a man who read nothing at all was better educated than the one who read nothing but newspapers.
“It all comes back to how well you educate yourself, and the decisions that you make based on the education you’ve given yourself. You can go to a school and get a piece of paper and say you know what you’re talking about, but I’ve met several people who have those pieces of paper who have no idea what they’re talking about.
“So it comes back to what you want to do with something and what you want to make of it. It’s never about what somebody else wants or somebody else thinks. If you think the year is going to be horrible, it’s going to be horrible.”
Heather Walker
“I think a lot of the issue is mind over matter. I think if people try to look at things in a more positive way, then more positive things would come their way. I think if we seek out all the negatives in life, we’re going to find all the negatives. But if we start looking for positive things, we’ll find them.
“Like with our media, there’s so much negative that comes down that it’s hard to stay positive on that stuff, so there’s times you just need to turn it off.
“I think it’s all about what we seek. What we seek is what we’ll find. Emphasize the positive; if you can walk around with a smile on your face, you never know when your brightness may create a little ray of sunshine in somebody else’s cloudy day.”
There’s no big general election and no Olympic games scheduled, and it’s not a year featuring any major issues with an ancient calendar. But 2013 will undoubtedly include many interesting – and perhaps historical – moments. In this feature, a randomly selected cross-section of local citizens share their views of the prospects of the coming year.