Now, the areas that have a clearly increasing standard of living seem to be the ones that had very low standards of living for a long time and now they are experiencing rapid economic growth because they have technically skilled workforces (thats what happens when you don't have the distractions we have) combined with a low cost of living. Companies in search of skilled labor are investing money there, not here. The US workforce is among the most productive in the world but the cost differential is huge. We have an amazing infrastructure, but its aging, and our workforce is encumbered by expenses that make it desperate for the money to be able to continue working. Healthcare costs are a huge reason for the costs of living here. The need to save money for retirement before the middle class jobs dissappear for good is another factor driving costs up. People realize that they need to make a lot more money, or they will be eating out of garbage cans in a few years. Even if they do, there are so many variables. I guess what I am trying to say is that government needs to help or get out of the way. The vested interests WONT LET people handle things on their own.. (for example, people COULD LOWER COSTS A LOT if they could, for example, buy any prescription drugs they needed from anywhere in the world, but, because someone has paid for the rights to us, we can't. Its prohibited by the World Trade Organization - The US government fought HARD, and continues to fight - for that rule! Even if it means millions of people in Third World countries die because they can't afford AIDS or malaria medications.) lets face it, we the people are babes in the woods. They have seen this coming decades ago and prepared for it. We need to be pragmatic and OBJECTIVE and look at what we DO have that we CAN take advantage of and DO THAT. If we give everyone in this country a good education, and as jobs go away, make sure that people are safe and can make productive use of that extra time in learning - and hopefully, starting new businesses, instead of being sick or being terrified of losing healthcare, maybe we will see a light at the end of the tunnel someday. After all, the world's population will stabilize around 2050

The US is an amazing nation. But we are in denial about how much we have already lost. We think we are smarter than we really are. And, we will also need to be honest about where we need to improve. We are NOT doing that now because of GREED. ITS GOING TO COST A HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY TO GET THE KIND OF TRAINING TO PEOPLE THAT WILL GET THE PERCENTAGES OF EMPLOYED UP TO WHERE THEY USED TO BE.

We would have to cut DEEPLY into that Pentagon budget to do it, and figure out ways to fund it that are INDEPENDENT OF PROPERTY TAXES.. which ENFORCE THE DISCRIMINATORY SITUATION IN WHICH MANY SCHOOLS DONT HAVE THE MONEY FOR BOOKS OR TEACHERS, LET ALONE EXCELLENCE.

I am not kidding when I say its going to take decades.

In the meantime, we need to give people STABILITY. Its a well known fact that continuous stress destroys brain cells on a massive scale. By not solving the healthcare mess we are condemming a whole generation to mediocrity because of stress-induced destruction of the hippocampus and amygdala.

We need to realize that the changes we are going to need to bring about will take DECADES. You can't teach people the skills they need without the CONTEXT TO ABSORB THEM. To get that first we will need a return to the basics. And we will need to get away from our video game and overconsumption-driven society. In that respect, some kinds of poverty can bring blessings. As long as they aren't accompanied by stress and violence. To reduce the stress, we need decent, universal healthcare and we need elimination of the worst kinds of inequality, the kinds where people see people dying because they can't afford a $20 medication for a treatable illness, or they cant afford a safe place to live. (Not a palace, just a safe place to live, however modest.)

And LOTS of money, so much money that I think our ruling class has just given up on Americas future, because they just don't care about America enough to give up their third home or their second yacht for it.

Its going to require sacrifice.

So, I guess what I am getting at is that we are going to need to CHANGE A LOT OF THINGS DRAMATICALLY TO HOLD US OVER UNTIL THAT YOUNGER GENERATION CAN TAKE THE REINS WITH THOSE NEW SKILLS AND BRING AMERICA BACK UP AGAIN...

It wont be the older generation..

And people also need to understand that even if they don't have retirement money, they wont be able to keep working if they cant afford to retire. The jobs wont be there for them, they will be going to younger people and the will get harder and harder to find. And meanwhile, everyone who has equity will be a target.

That is where heathcare comes it. Its your money or your life.

Obama's healthcare paradigm leaves us in the mess we are in now where each person is alone against these huge companies that MAKE IT THEIR BUSINESS TAKING MONEY AND AVOIDING THE RESPONSIBILITIES WE PAY THEM FOR.

They are stripping a WHOLE GENERATION OF WHAT EQUITY IT HAS.

They know that people who are on the edge can't afford to fight, to speak up.

Thats why I think Hillary Clinton's
premium cap is important.

Hillary will give poor working people who could never afford insurance before, REAL insurance THAT ENSURES PEACE OF MIND. For less than it has ever been available for before.

In World War II when labor was scarce, the sudden availability of healthcare benefits to MILLIONS of people who had never been able to afford it before COMPLETELY OFFSET AMERICAN DEATHS IN THE WAR.
That improvement in health status was part of the reason the postwar economy boomed and our decline in health status is part of the reason we are sinking now. (Some areas the changes are really terrible.. mortality rates are way up.)

IF we ACTUALLY improve access to healthcare, NOT JUST SWEET TALK PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR VOTE ..similar benefits will accrue to us today..

Obama's 'insurance' is a shell game, its 'consumer driven healthcare'. Which is insurance in name only because it makes itself 'affordable' (but not affordable enough, because its still too expensive for many Federal employees) BY CUTTING COVERED BENEFITS..

Please read my diaries which try to explain where the tradeoffs are.. and why.

Don't be a sucker..

Don't let PURSUASIVE and evil people intimidate you into poverty. Four years is a LONG TIME.

Thank you.