Lucky me...

[one_voice]

[lunatica]

1. kick'd and rec'd

I've seen that before but never in such a nice poster. I love it.

[Bluebear]

2. totally agree!

[one_voice]

6. I found it here...

http://www.photoblip.com/

[seabeyond]

3. that is another way of looking at it. i would like for all of them to be where i am

instead of me sinking to where they are.

[WhiteTara]

5. Indeed.

That is the Way of the Bodhisatva.

May I be free from suffering
May all beings be free from suffering
May I be safe
May all beings be safe
May I be healed
May all beings be healed.
May I find Peace
May all being find Peace.

[Tx4obama]

4. K&R n/t

[GoneOffShore]

7. My bullshit detector just went off.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

8. Well, it's all relative.

If this is supposed to make me feel better about losing a couple hundred thou in home equity and having my 401K decimated, being forced into early , reduced benifit, retirement because there is no work or watching what money I do have being sucked up at the gas station or the grocery store, well, it didn't work. I understand that, on a global scale, I am still much better off than most but the handfull of banksters, oil execs, etc. who stole everything are be3tter off than EVERYBODY and I'm still mega pissed.

[Brickbat]

9. +

[chollybocker]

10. Fontastic.

Want t-shirt.

[starroute]

11. But now what do we *do* about it?

I remember when I was a kid in the 50's -- maybe age 11 or 12 -- being aware that I was among the more privileged individuals in the most privileged nation on earth. But it didn't give the the feeling I was lucky. It gave me the feeling I was obligated.

And much of my generation felt the same way. That was what really distinguished us early-issue Baby Boomers at the start. We knew we were special, knew we were privileged, and felt we were obliged to make use of our advantages to change the world for the better. That feeling was what powered much of the 60's.

Only then something went wrong. For all our specialness and privilege, we found we didn't have the power to change the world. The world pushed back and foiled our attempts. The late-issue Boomers, who didn't share our sense that there was something out of joint that we personally were expected to fix, were perfectly happy to settle into materialism and figure they'd earned it. Even too many early-issue Boomers came to feel the same way.

And those of us who remember have been left with a vague sense of guilt and frustration.

But the question remains. What do we *do* about it?

[EC]

12. Isn't it all relative?

Averaging out lower costs of living with higher gives a false picture. I'll bet there are more poor than this represents.

[monmouth]

13. If you can read the message, thank a teacher...n/t

[Cerridwen]

14. Why yes, I believe the US is better off than many "third-world" nations.

Generally speaking.

How are we doing relative to our peers?

Why, exactly, is anyone comparing the US to "third-world" nations? Isn't that pretty much apples to oranges?

I mean, birds are kinda cool but they'll never make good horses. Even if a few of them are exceptional at being birds, I still think those exceptional few great birds would still fail as horses.

If the only way we can make something in the US look better is to compare it to, say, Somalia, I think we've got a problem.