[lbo-talk] 'American kids, dumber than dirt'

[Carl Remick]

On 10/29/07, Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:
>
> It's clear that the
>                        laudatores temporis acti
>        claiming that the sh-t used to be blacker and richer
>                        (Canto XV
> are wrong. The question of interest is why intelligent people can be so
> historically naive.

And to think I used to consider you a Gloomy Gus, Carrol.  Why, you're
right in the mirthful mainstream of American merriment!  This is from
David Brooks' NYT column today:

"American voters are generally happy with their own lives. Eighty-six
percent of Americans say they are content with their jobs, according
to the General Social Survey. Seventy-six percent of Americans say
they are satisfied with their family income, according to a Pew
Research Center survey. Sixty-two percent of Americans expect their
personal situation to get better over the next five years, according
to a Harris Poll, compared with only 7 percent who expect it to get
worse.  Researchers from Pew found that 65 percent of Americans are
satisfied over all with their own lives — one of the highest rates of
personal satisfaction in the world today."

<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/opinion/30brooks.html?hp>

Carl