I smell something in the air. I can't put my finger on it, but it goes like this.
We have been avoiding reality as a society, and there is a sense of guilt, not only fear, that we sort of "knew it," that we'd convinced ourselves otherwise, but that deep down . . . it really is the case that our homes and businesses and 401 Ks are not worth quite as much as we liked to think.
The fire-hose of credit is cinched off for a few days and look what happens, we notice that our lives are pretty much the same as in the 1980s, after all. What is wealth but the feeling that we have moved forward to new heights? We kept telling ourselves we have; knowing, with the other half of our brain, that we were not moving to new heights, that the Iraq war bill and massive borrowing were real, that we would have to pay for it all somehow, morally, emotionally, financially, and in getting Miele washing machines.
We have been avoiding the future. Now, we embrace it and say, "enough smoke and mirrors!" We know the truth now. The men in charge bankrupted us and their friends made off with billions. We are ready to put both feet back on the ground and do something about replacing our dreamworld, and recycle our bottles. And elect a sweep of Democrats behind Barack Obama.