My point is that bad times stink...and people seem to have little perspective when dealing with them. 2001-2002 dot com bust/post 9/11 downturn felt bad at the time. I remember it being reported as the worst hard time since the depression...now it turns out it was one of the mildest recessions in history. People lack perspective about the present. Doesn’t mean we’re not in hard times, but it also doesn’t mean these are the worst times.
I like most of what you said, but compared to what I've seen in the past, we're definitely not in hard times. They're just not quite as good as they were a year ago. 5.5% ue rate is still rather good. I don't see the bellies shrinking much on most of the people I see. When I think of hard times I think of the thirties and the Dust Bowl days. We're not anywhere near that.