The general consensus, I imagine, is something to the effect of, "God, when is he gonna stop whining?! It's incessant lately!" Yeah, it probably is. But, as they say, these are the times that try men's souls. And there is nothing particularly chauvinistic, or, it seems, even Dickensian in the thought. That's the truth. I was all set to say something about "old growth" wealth, and the idea that to weather an economic storm of this magnitude, you really should be prepared beforehand, like, wayyyyyyy beforehand. Like stretching-back-generations beforehand. And then I read that the countries that are most poised for continued growth are China and India; new-money-wealth if it ever existed. The idea being touted in this particular Wall Street Journal article was "decoupling," essentially the idea that worldwide economies should not trust the U.S. economy any further than they can throw it. If even that far. As I have long noted, though, I believe the U.S.' overall complacency has finally gotten the best of us. Sigh. I hate being like this, I really and truly do. But if the weak in America don't run the risk of being sucked into a vortex of domination by worldwide entities, they still run the long-term risk of being the first on the block to be chewed up and spit out as a result of the "system" in America failing. How long do you suspect it's going to take before a health insurance crisis in this country starts tallying the victims of those who simply can't afford to be healed? I can see the updated coroner's forms now; cause of death: lack of health insurance. None the less, something does indeed still ring true in the idea that you have to be prepared for the worst, although never having had the chance to can be as bad as never having had the foresight to. So do the right thing. Take the opportunity to save yourself, before the system threatens to eat you, or someone you love.