The Terrible Pessimism about this Country

I think something needs to be done about this state of affairs and it should be done soon.

What I see in almost all walks of life is a sense of pessimism about the country.  The pie is contracting. People work much harder to stay where they are, the ability to guarantee the same life for your children is declining, and people feel they can’t afford to be as generous about anything. You have to be warier of new people, resentful of people around you, you can’t expand the benefits available to others without hurting your own chances and those of your children.

This attitude is what is wrong with America today. Everyone is so pessimistic after the Great Recession of 2008. Part of that is that Obama and the GOP really don't seem to be doing anything for the common person anymore. Obama is trying to help people making minimum wage and the GOP is seen as helping the 1%. Both of those groups is like less than 20% of the total population.

Everything seems like a 0-sum game where if someone else wins you are losing. That really isn't the truth though. We can expand the earned income tax credit quite easily and that would put thousands of dollars in each persons pocket. The GDP gains would offset the revenue loss that would come from that tax gain. There needs to be more out of Washington than increase the minimum wage and cut taxes on the wealthy. Maybe the GOP Congress with Ryan doing tax reform will do it but I have to doubt it for the most part. I think the entire 0-sum idea needs to be destroyed for the most part because it is destroying the good things in America.