> But it's really frustrating to run into the melodramatic
> we-live-in-hell tendency among much of the Left, which is what runs
> through Wojtek's comments.
>
> ---
> I lived in the US for 25 horrible years.
>
> You DO live in hell.
How so? Stable economy, crime's been manageable in my neighborhood, lots of stores nearby, a major city's services and bounty within walking distance, a short drive from beautiful farmland where I can get stuff from Pennsylvania Amish farmers, a wonderful municipal park one block south of my house (my three-story, four-bedroom house, where I spend my free time in my wonderful basement woodshop), lots of young students at the nearby University for me to watch and lust after, two supermarkets nearby with lots of stuff to eat and try, lots of smaller ethnic stores in case I feel like something exotic, the Restaurant School nearby for cheap-but-fine dining, an account at a well-stocked video store full of foreign films, two movie theaters within walking distance, high-speed Internet access so I can find out or shop for nearly anything I want, a vast transportation system which I could use to travel to New York City of Washington D.C. or Disney World, lots of newsstands nearby full of international newspapers, readily-available pronography for when I feel like jerking off, a credit card offering me several thousand dollars in credit (which I use sparingly), a massive library at the University which I can use (as an employee), several large bookstores in town, several great _used_ bookstores for when I go on an antiquarian jag, CD stores where I can obtain damn near any kind of music recorded, relatively few weapons-toting religious fanatics, I'm healthy and smart and reasonably attractive, and my boss is on vacation so my workload is very light this week...
I don't know where you're living, Chris, but compared to most of the world, I'm living in a fuckin' _paradise_.