It was all just a dream

WASHINGTON Associated Press August 28, 2009 –“Household income in the United States is essentially stagnant, raising doubts about whether consumers already hurt by job losses can sustain an economic recovery.

….But any economic rebound likely would falter if shoppers lack the income to spend more in the long run. Especially in the U.S., consumer spending is essential: It drives about 70 percent of economic activity — more than for most European nations and well above the rates in developing countries such as China.

For almost a quarter-century, the U.S. consumer has powered the entire global economy….But this crisis signals an inflection point where U.S. consumers will go from leading global growth to, at best, just doing their part.”

10 score and 13 years have come to this: all we are as human beings are nothing but machines for spending. What a sad end for the American dream – we were the beacon of freedom, the height of imagination of self, and now… all we are is spenders – and we’re even failing at that.  And “nation building”, and human rights, and the environment, and our children…National malaise here we come, existential crisis waiting, right at exactly the time when we can’t afford it.