American Despair Grows

[marmar]

from 247WallStreet:




American Despair Grows
Posted: August 13, 2010 at 5:52 am


Americans’ despair about the economy shows up so often in research studies that the results have become redundant. But, the malaise actually deepens with each new piece of data.

The troubles that US citizens face and fear were on display in a pair of recent Gallup polls.

Fewer Americans rated their lives positively in July than did so in any other month so far in 2010. That takes the comparison back to a period when the country was still in a recession. This information comes from the Life Evaluation Index, part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which classifies Americans as either “thriving,” “struggling,” or “suffering,” according to how they rate their current and future lives

At the roots of these impressions about how people’s lives are going are worries about jobs and the economy, another Gallup survey shows. “Americans of all political persuasions say the economy and jobs are the most important problems facing the country today. These concerns easily outpace all others, thus providing politicians seeking office in this fall’s midterm elections with clear marching orders from their constituents: Fix the economy.”

Thirty percent of those surveyed believe that the economy is the most important issue which faces the nation. That is followed closely by jobs at 28%. No other issue is even close to these.

The government has no ready solutions for these problems and part of the worry of Americans is that they know that. The tunnel is both dark and endless. Americans want no deficits and they want 4% unemployment and 5% GDP growth, but some of the solutions to these problems are mutually exclusive and Americans are acutely aware that these goals may be years or even a generation away.

It is an ugly way to go through life but for most people in the United States there are no other options.

-- Douglas A. McIntyre


http://247wallst.com/2010/08/13/american-despair-grows/#ixzz0wUOaVg7g

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[HughBeaumont]

2. "Can't strengthen the weak by weakening the strong!"

"If you work really, REALLY hard, you will be rich someday just like Bill Gates!"

Just two of the many, MANY stupid things American voters are conditioned to believe.

Granted, and I've said this a tonne of times, those first five problems stem from unbridled whiskey-throttle capitalism, caused by the wealthy and by their puppets in D.C. There's really not much more to say about this; Americans should have been flooding the streets and assaulting/guillotining at least 1 or 3 of these bastards from jump. Embracing and believing in fairy-tale faith-based bullshit like Reaganomics (still being practiced to this DAY, I might add) was one of the most cement-headed moves this country has ever performed.

But we're so unbelievably afraid of change, we couldn't imagine a better life or imagine that other countries are doing far better than us.

No, it's just easier to call the president a Communist (or on our side, "exactly like Bush") and blame him instead of the ridiculoulsy greedbag wealthy. And we'll continue consuming and gambling for a better life, eternally chasing that electric rabbit when the game-masters don't need to take any such risks.

Americans also really need to get over this "I'm going to win the lottery someday! MY ship IS going to come in" quick-fix mentality. It only exacerbates the problem and takes the more long-term successful slow builds off the table.

Bottom line is they need to stop blaming the wrong people for their problems. A politician is only as good as his/her owners.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HughBeaumont]

8. I'm not the one who believed Obama was something he wasn't.

You're going to get an alien president before you'll get a progressive one. I don't like it any more than you do, but that's what happens when you have an almost completely corporatized and highly indebted nation. Politics the way we would like stopped working in November of 1963. I'm almost surprised the military hasn't started a nuclear war yet.

I voted against another Republican administration and will continue to do so. That's really all you can hope for, sorry to say.

All it's going to take is one more. One more. And the lights are as good as turned out. Republicans don't know what they're doing and are fucked in the head. If they attain office again, the catastrophe is going to be biblical. It'll be Dubya times 20,000.

[TheKentuckian]

10. I don't do well under the gun. It is in my nature to force the shoe to drop and fight

There is going to be one more at some point and then it will have to be dealt with and even if there isn't ours morph into a rainbow version of their's more with each day. The path is the same if it is coming down let it be in our time so the survivors are free and have resources to build again with.

We are the stewards of the now.

[tabasco]

16. Obama is a puppet?

I thought this was Democratic Underground.

[GoCubsGo]

6. It doesn't help to have the MSM fear-mongering

For the past few weeks, they've been doing nothing but screaming about "double-dip recessions", and harping on every bit of negative economic news, no matter how minor, as if the economy will collapse tomorrow. They're scaring the shit out of everyone, so everyone is closing their wallets. Yesterday, I had to sit in the waiting room of a tire dealer for an hour or so. They had CNN on in the waiting room. Veshi and Sanchez were spewing gloom and doom for twenty minutes, after which Veshi says, "But, I'm not fear-mongering." Yes, you are, asshole.

People are not afraid of change. They are afraid, PERIOD. We live in a country of bed-wetters, and ignorant, gullible ones at that.

[HughBeaumont]

9. I'm sort of guilty as well.

I SHUDDER to think of what would happen if someone with the mentality of a Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Jim Demint or God forbid Jeb Bush were anywhere NEAR the Oval Office. This nation would be fucked.

But yes, the fear mongering is at an all-time high. Probably because it puts asses in the seats and, well, because a Democrat is in the White House. Recall any dismal reporting when Bewsh II was in office prior to the 2008 financial debacle (and that's only because they HAD to report bad news)?

[Greyhound]

13. 9 of the 11 items on that list are the direct result of business taking over "our" government.

What's good for GE is almost certainly bad for America.

[Llewlladdwr]

14. So, do we stop working really hard or stop looking for the quick fix?

Or both? Neither?

I'm not getting exactly what you think the solution is...

[steve2470]

4. Interesting how terrorism isn't even mentioned specifically

It could be included under war (non-specific).

[woo me with science]

5. Interesting that they mention abuse by government

but not by corporations.

[GoCubsGo]

7. "Lack of respect for each other"

It all really boils down to that, doesn't it? The lack of jobs, our economic problems, immigration issues, heath care, wars, education, alleged "moral decline", ethics. All of it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. kick

[BlueCheese]

12. Have we given up?

Americans want no deficits and they want 4% unemployment and 5% GDP growth, but some of the solutions to these problems are mutually exclusive and Americans are acutely aware that these goals may be years or even a generation away.

In the 1990s we had no deficit, 4% unemployment, and reasonable growth. Median household income reached its highest point in history. The idea that we have to settle for giant deficits, chronically high unemployment, and anemic growth is defeatist in itself. The Bush administration screwed things up pretty badly, but not permanently.

[McCamy Taylor]

15. Despair? Let's call it anger, instead, and mobilize voters to do something about it.

Until we have a 60 vote Senate majority, nothing substantial can be done.

[mother earth]

17. How can gov't be the solution when they are corporate owned?

There's a reason the GOP thrives on chaos and misinformation and attracts right extremists...we are too busy looking at the bizarre antics and fighting hate and fear to be effective at the real culprits...and as soon as those lone voices are cleared out with "ethics" violations, while the lack of ethics violations for the truly deserving go, yet again, unnoticed...the corporate stranglehold has usurped everything. What the hell happened to transparency that was to be the new norm? Call this what it is, the corporate puppetmasters have their hand in all of this, profits have been good, even the bail-outs have been beneficial....sanctioned theft in your face.

There should be no surprise, when from day one, it was not time to look to the past, nor make those criminals accountable, it was too important to look forward. This is forward, folks, and how will those numbers grow? These are the same enemies of John Adams & Jefferson.