tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post8009819132059065713..comments2024-02-17T07:59:18.705-08:00Comments on Grad Student Madness: Notes from the American EconomyRufushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-83972916560157188382009-12-03T20:11:54.269-08:002009-12-03T20:11:54.269-08:00She's keeping a positive outlook, while trying...She's keeping a positive outlook, while trying not to be overwhelmed with depression. She does recognize that a lot of external factors are making downward mobility the norm in the US (for the last three decades actually), and says she's thinking about writing a book. I suspect a lot of people could relate.Rufushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-62198837631459263672009-12-03T03:27:07.454-08:002009-12-03T03:27:07.454-08:00See, I didn't really mean your use of the word...See, I didn't really mean your use of the word luck, I meant in the letter where your friend mentions her bad luck... as if it's something she's coincidentally experienced.<br /><br />I guess it beats the alternative, going around enraged all the time at the asinine unfairness of it all...Hollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10593117152792976823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-3932691561132759262009-12-02T12:09:13.819-08:002009-12-02T12:09:13.819-08:00Holly: It's the wrong word probably. What I wa...Holly: It's the wrong word probably. What I was getting at was the argument Brian was detailing in the last post, although not exactly endorsing, wherein people are alleged to generally become poor because, when they had the chance to work hard, they chose not to, and so it's their fault. Sort of the grasshopper and the ant argument. In this case, what I was getting at was simply that I know tons of people who have been impoverished through nothing that I would call their own damn fault. I mean, I just can't see what these people could have done differently. So, definitely, it's a result of the severe incompetence of others at a higher level- but on their part I don't think it was the result of poor choices. Hope that clears that up.<br /><br />Chris: Yeah, exactly- people below suffer due to the reigning economic idiocy above. And things haven't radically changed with the new administration. It's essentially the same econimic idiocy that has reigned for the last three decades, at least, and which really only replaced another brand of idiocy. That region of rural Virginia got smashed about three years ago, but nothing's improved since then. Now, the leadership is doing what's been done before, just moreso, and expecting different results. I'm expecting a repeat of the econolypse within the decade.Rufushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-31488654662932536742009-12-02T11:18:22.614-08:002009-12-02T11:18:22.614-08:00What Chris says is at the core of what's been ...What Chris says is at the core of what's been bugging me about this since I read it. <br /><br />Because.... <br /><br />'bad luck' my ass. <br /><br />Hit by lightening is bad luck. Run over by an economic tsuanami? Harder to see that as being luck related. The people who AREN'T on the skids because of it might shrug modestly and say, "Just lucky, I guess" but that's not true.Hollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10593117152792976823noreply@blogger.com