[reformedliberal]

I spoke to a college freshman from Marquette last January. Bright girl, raised conservative Republican, works at her father’s dental practice summers and vacations. She said that she doubted her peers would even vote in the midterms and indicated that they were totally disengaged. OTOH, despite her father’s example and advice, she still dreams of medical school.

The students are simply not really capable of seeing ahead. Even adults seem to hang on to the past and believe that everything will be fine because all they have known is prosperity.

An adult liberal emphasized to me that this isn’t the Depression, as there are no soup lines. People just don’t understand that the soup lines are now nationalized with the electronic benefit cards and because the recipients can shop as before, at least for food, the soup lines are hidden from public view.

For other goods, the 2nd hand stores and flea markets are much more crowded.

[LS]

I hear you, but as my wife says, "Where's the recession?" We're in southern OH where Dayton has experienced a 30% population loss in 30 years; saw FIVE major corporations move out in the last decade; and where entire sections of town that used to be major industries are just boarded up. But on the other hand, she says that all the restaurants are full, all the clothing stores are hoppin', including the high end ones. We were at DisneyLand two weeks ago, and the waitress in one place said they were down perhaps 25% "due to the locals not having any money." But it was at least an hour wait to get on any ride; "Blue Bayou" was booked until 2:30 to get a lunch reservation; and the "City Walk" was full of people buying.

So I don't know what to think. They are putting up a good half-dozen "mini-mansions" within two miles of us---all $700,000 to $1 million homes. Who'se buying them? If the answer is no one, why are they building them? And it's not foreigners---so where is the money coming from?