Here's Why The Funk, Mr. Barone

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070729/6barone.htm

In his article in the August 6th issue of U.S. News & World Report, Michael Barone asks why America is in such a funk, given that things seems to be going so well. Here are some reasons for pessimism:

Despite what Wall Street might have to say, the economy is not all that great. The majority of the money is in the hands of a minority of the people. The middle class is shrinking. Many Americans are deeply in debt and cannot see themselves getting out. Many are in debt right off the bat out of college due to student loans. Many will not be able to afford to retire when they reach the retirement age because they have not been able to contribute enough to their retirement accounts (something the previous generation did not have to worry about). Our economy is based largely on service industries and advertising (companies spending money to persuade people to spend money they don't have for something they don't need) and much less on manufacturing. Consequently our trade deficit is skyrocketing. This course is simply not sustainable and eventually everything will come crashing down, plunging the nation into a deep recession or even a depression.

We have in this decade been attacked on our own soil and are threatened with further attacks by the same enemy, an enemy that we have not been able to even find, much less to conquer. We are involved in a war that, like Vietnam, seems to have no end.

Our education system is failing. Many high-school and even college graduates are not as intelligent, well-educated or motivated as their counterparts in (or from) other countries. (Ever notice how many foreign doctors there are now?) Our health-care system is unaffordable to many, even with insurance. Our political system is a mockery, and our news media is more concerned with the affairs of celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears than with truly important matters.

America has reached its peak and is heading downhill. Our world prominence is being replaced by that of rising nations such as China and India.


So Sayeth The Shack