70% Think Things Are Bad

Poll: 70 percent in U.S. say things are going badly - CNN.com

Last night I heard on NPR that "some economists say this may be a mild recession". That is pretty interesting in a week in which we discovered that the economy GREW by .6 in the last quarter and that unemployment DROPPED with a loss of only 20K jobs rather than the predicted 80-100K.

I also watched the movie of "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand last night, where Gail Wynand states that "The masses will believe whatever I tell them". NPR and the polls show that Ayn was right on that front. One of the reasons that "Bush is a bad President" is because this is his SECOND recession! The problem is, that if we used numbers and facts as a measure, CLINTON handed Bush a recession as he took office and Bush presided over a hugely difficult RECOVERY that included 9-11 and ONE QUARTER of drop in GDP - which, if we believed numbers, wouldn't be a recession at all.

We haven't had ANY quarters of decline in GDP yet this time, so by the numbers, this "recession" isn't a recession. BUT, thanks to "the masses believing whatever the MSM tells them", 70% say "things are bad". Most people are drawn to being in agreement with the majority, and the idea that one needs to think critically and use your own mind is a dangerous idea to those that seek collective power. It is also the founding idea of this country and what has historically made us special and great. The individual freedom that makes us special is NEVER "free" however. It requires a significant number of people to stand up for principles that are NOT going to be popular with "the masses".