How many here are better off than they were 10 years ago?

[AllieBaba]

Because Obama and Hillary and all the rest of the lefties insist we're doing worse.

I'm much better.

 

[cbi0090]

Well, financially, yes, but...I am 10 years older!!!!

 

[midcan5]

Life isn't about us, it is, hopefully, about we.

(Sorry that sounds like a hallmark card.)

 

[TheGoodShepherd]

Because Obama and Hillary and all the rest of the lefties insist we're doing worse.

I'm much better.

Thankfully policy for the most part doesn't rely on one anecdote.

 

[Gunny]

Because Obama and Hillary and all the rest of the lefties insist we're doing worse.

I'm much better.

Worse or better in what way?

 

[Alpha1]

85% of us know we are better off now than 10 years ago....

the A group......half of us will truthfully admit to that fact with no problem.....

the B group?......some of the others will reluctantly admit it too....

the C group...... the 15%....honestly will say they are not ...for various reasons....usually because of nothing the government has direct control over
sickness, lost job, car accident, etc....

Its the B group thats screwy....
They know they are better off but believe in their heart of hearts that their neighbors aren't doing so well....
They have no real, first hand reason to believe this....but feel it MUST be true....
WHY? Because thats what their political party has told them...
Because thats what their lying newspaper has told them.....
Because thats what their lying liberal blogs have told them....

Guess they think they are just lucky.....

 

[Glori.B]

people who are reluctant to admit they're "doing better" are only feeling guilty.
that's not so screwy, really...


fwiw, ten years ago i was in my thirties and now i'm in my forties...

 

[Gunny]

85% of us know we are better off now than 10 years ago....

the A group......half of us will truthfully admit to that fact with no problem.....

the B group?......some of the others will reluctantly admit it too....

the C group...... the 15%....honestly will say they are not ...for various reasons....usually because of nothing the government has direct control over
sickness, lost job, car accident, etc....

Its the B group thats screwy....
They know they are better off but believe in their heart of hearts that their neighbors aren't doing so well....
They have no real, first hand reason to believe this....but feel it MUST be true....
WHY? Because thats what their political party has told them...
Because thats what their lying newspaper has told them.....
Because thats what their lying liberal blogs have told them....

Guess they think they are just lucky.....

You are incorrect in regard to your C grouping. The government IS responsible for job loss due to sickness, accident or whatever. WTF are we paying into these social programs for if they don't pay out when you need them?

Kind of interesting how it works. If you can't work, you can't collect unemployment. If you aren't permanently disabled, you can't collect social security. If your company gets wind that you need an operation and fires you for some unrelated reason as soon as they can, you're fucked. Kiss those savings goodbye.

And yeah, that kind of government bureaucratc bullshit is the responsibility of the government and regardless what anyone else did, the current President has done little to nothing to address it.

But I suppose that's all my wife's fault because two discs completely degenerated and she needed a spinal fusion.

 

[Swamp Fox]

I'm doing better and having more fun. Just had to realize I can't do everything I used to do ten years ago. What's the song say, "I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once, as I ever was."

 

[JimH52]

If the economy continues to slide, we will be in deep dodo within two years. Gasoline prices through the roof, the housing market is near dead, food inflation sky rocketing...so I need to go on?

 

[midcan5]

People who spend too much time online are the wrong people to ask. LOL

 

[Anguille]

Because Obama and Hillary and all the rest of the lefties insist we're doing worse.

I'm much better.

I suppose by better off you are you mean specifically economically. I am much worse off economically than I was 10 years ago. But 10 years ago I had a job that I dreaded going to everyday, saw more friends and family members die than in any other period of my life and my health was not as good as it is now.

Among the people I know, I've seen my already well off friends getting richer and others less well off sinking further towards or into poverty.

Is the country as a whole doing better or worse? It depends on what kind of day I am having on how I would answer that question. Generally speaking, I think the US is having a meltdown of sorts but more and more people are becoming aware of this and actively working to prevent it and redirect the country in a better direction.

 

[Anguille]

People who spend too much time online are the wrong people to ask. LOL

LOL! Absolutely right!

 

[TopGunna]

10 years ago, the biggest concerns in my life were the SATs and the occasional pimple. Things are much worse now!

Seriously though, I know I'm better off now than I was 10 years ago. I tend to think nearly everyone is better off in real terms - but some people don't feel that way because there are others who are way better off.

I didn't have a cell phone ten years ago. Now I can be reached at any time, and can reach others when I need something. If I get lost driving to a friend's new place? No problem, I can pull over whereever I am and instantly call a friend, who will get me back on the right path. No need to look for a payphone anymore. And if that's not enough? There are now GPS systems that can lead you to practically every address in the country!

The internet wasn't as useful ten years ago. Now I can look up information about any nearly subject I want and find it in seconds. Numerous old friends have found me online and we've been able to reconnect. Earlier this year a recruiter found my resume online, and offered me $15K more than I was making. Ten years ago, that wouldn't have happened.

I didn't have an IPOD ten years ago. Now I can load 300 hours of my favorite music and take it with me anywhere. I'd say it's a slight step up from my Walkman and 90-minute mix tape.

How about medicine? My allergies made me miserable in high school, but now drugs like Claritin are available OTC. I don't need Viagra yet, but I would guess that it's marginally improved the lives of many elderly folks.

Healthier food tastes better (in my opinion, anyway) than ten years ago. The toothpaste I use now also whitens teeth and is available in a flavor I like - products like that weren't available ten years ago.

I think those are all things that have been pretty universally experienced in this country. I'll acknowledge that not everyone has benefitted from all these improvements, but that doesn't make them worse off in absolute terms. And also, it's likely that their lives have improved in other ways that I haven't experienced personally.

Of course, my life hasn't improved as much as the guys who founded Google and Facebook. They are incredibly better off than before. But their increased wealth doesn't hurt/impoverish me.

I think some people get caught up in that perception, that others' lives are improving more rapidly than their own. That may be the case, but it doesn't change the fact that your life has improved. Envy is a powerful emotion...

 

[Paulie]

10 years ago, I doubt very many people here were worrying about whether or not one of their cities was going to be nuked by terrorists. Now many of you are so scared of it, that you're willing to commit our men and women in uniform to invasions of countries that don't even pose an immediate, imminent threat.

How are any of us better off? I make more money than I did 10 years ago, but so what? Is that the key to paradise? 10 years ago, I didn't worry about the threat of nuclear world war happening at any moment. Now, we're about one big event away from it.

This is a stupid thread.

 

[AllieBaba]

You only think it's stupid because it proves the negativism and hysteria about how horrible we're all doing is obviously just tripe.

It looks like everybody is doing better.

 

[TopGunna]

10 years ago, I doubt very many people here were worrying about whether or not one of their cities was going to be nuked by terrorists. Now many of you are so scared of it, that you're willing to commit our men and women in uniform to invasions of countries that don't even pose an immediate, imminent threat.

Well, the threat of radical muslim terrorists is a new thing, but the threat of attack has always been present. Do government-mandated air raid drills ring a bell?

Does the fact that you have more to lose these days make the threat of danger that much more imposing?

 

[Shogun]

yes. this is a stupid thread.

 

[doeton]

well there's 4,000 american service members who aren't better off.

and the upteen thousand wounded

and the tens of thousands of dead iraqi's.

let see there america's worst standing in the world ever...but compared to 10 years ago absolutely pitful.

there's world food shortage going on.

there's peak oil

there's global climate disaster looming.

there's the mortgage crisis.

there's the health crisis.

on and on...



and there's the worst president ever still sitting in the oval office.

lol better off?

yeah, this is a stupid thread.

 

[TopGunna]

well there's 4,000 american service members who aren't better off.

and the upteen thousand wounded

and the tens of thousands of dead iraqi's.

let see there america's worst standing in the world ever...but compared to 10 years ago absolutely pitful.

there's world food shortage going on.

there's peak oil

there's global climate disaster looming.

there's the mortgage crisis.

there's the health crisis.

on and on...



and there's the worst president ever still sitting in the oval office.

lol better off?

yeah, this is a stupid thread.

Hahahaha! I like how neither of you answered the question. It was a question seeking subjective responses... I guess that makes it a stupid thread. After all, it doesn't allow you to complain about how SOOOO many people are being screwed over these days. Thank goodness you were able to able to respond and liberally use the word crisis though!