[Mr 5 0]

Originally Posted by 82 GT

Mr 5.0 , you're right, after reading UNITS last post, I do have a lack of understanding how the goverment works.

Well, I'm glad we cleared that up.

Having said that, his statement is more credible than what you're trying to say.

And here I thought you were doing so well, too.

All the higher paying jobs are going to China and these "new jobs" being created are just like unit said...burger flippers, wal-mart, etc. If you look around and open your eyes, you will notice that more and more middle class Americans, including myself, are being forced to take second jobs in order to "stay ahead".

About 2% of all U.S. jobs have gone overseas and few were 'higher paying'. Computer 'help' operators, factory and textile workers are hardly the upper crust of jobs.

My eyes are fully open and I see a lot of folks buying $40,000. SUV's, $3,000. plasma TV's and other indicators of affluence. That they work harder to pay for them is a tribute to materialism, misguided as that may be at times, it keeps the economy humming. If you are finding it necessary to take a second job, prehaps you should look at your expenses and also at your career prospects. You may be simply trying to live above your means or are not making enough to buy what you want without working a second job. Those are the results of personal decisions which we all make. Don't just blame 'the economy'.

So, yes, the economy is in the shitter!
Just because YOU can afford $100/week in fuel doesn't mean the economy is "ok".

I never said that I can 'afford $100./week in fuel'. I can't. However, just because gas prices went up drastically does not mean the entire U.S. economy is 'in the shitter', as you so charmingly put it.

I admit I don't know everything about how the economy or goverment works but what is even more scary is the fact that you, and others like you, say "All is well".

We all tend to be afraid of what we do not understand. It's O.K.

I guarantee that you are not the type of person who comes home from work everyday with your hands dirty. I don't have to be versed on how the economy works....all I need to do is live from day to day to know the economy sucks! Open you eyes, get your head out of your ass and take a look around you and then say "All is doing well". I bet you can't!

You know nothing at all about me so do not presume to make silly judgements here. It just undercuts your already thin credibility.

If you are not doing well, financially, of course the economy looks 'bad' - to you.

There is an old joke that goes like this: When your neighbor gets laid off the economy is in a recession. When you get laid off it's in a depression. In other words, our views of the state of the economy tend to be relative to our own position in it. I am not wealthy but I do grasp the fact that while our economy is far from perfect, it is also just as far from the disaster you and Unit 5302 claim.

I won't say that 'all' is well as that would be impossible. In a vast economy and a nation with almost 300 million people, there will always be areas of the country and people who are not doing well, at all. However, on balance, the U.S. economy is doing well, overall. I regret that you fail to see that and I despair of showing you otherwise as you are clearly wedded to your pessmistic view, as is Unit 5302. So be it. I tried - and I enjoyed the opportunity to explain a few things, even if they fell on deaf ears, or, more accurately, blind eyes. Whatever.

I wish you well.