Does anyone else think life has sucked since, say, Nov 2000?

[Frank Cannon]

All I can say is that prior November 2000, I had a terrific job that I loved. The economy was great. I had money in the bank and was making a salary that allowed me to live in a nice place and sock a little dough away every month. I looked forward to my future and was absolutely confident that we had a government in place that was forward-thinking, innovative, and would keep those good times rolling.

Then November 2000 came about, and that was the very beginning of the end of my happy times.

Although I was upset about the spurious election that year, I would become even more upset when, a few months later, most of my friends were laid off from their jobs. Then September 11, 2001, came about, bringing on several even more miserable months. Then in early 2002 more of my friends at work were laid off, and I left my employer and took another crappy job that paid 15% less just to try to save my own sorry ass from ruin.

In the days since early 2002, I have seen the prices on EVERYTHING going up dramatically. Property taxes have gone up, fuel prices have gone up, natural gas prices have escalated to almost unbelievable levels, health insurance has gone up...it's become unbearable. I now have NO savings and, in fact, I am in the market for a SECOND job just to make ends meet. I live on the freaking edge of ruin. But I struggle to come to work even when I'm almost deathly ill (as I was just recently) because I simply can't afford to lose the one exhausting job that I have.

At the same time, I am being told by our American media in this country that I am at risk for IMMINENT PAINFUL DEATH at the hands of terrorists, sharks, peak oil, or avian flu. Great. Just great! They feed this information to me 24/7, or in any moment when I'm stupid enough to turn the radio or TV on and listen to the "news".

The end seems inevitable for me. I look for some reason to carry on each day, but I'm not quite sure if one day I will actually wake up and find one. I'm almost at the end of my rope, which will probably come as soon as I get my next gas bill.

It just seems so strange to me that ALL OF THIS STUFF happened after November 2000. There really was no inkling of any of it on the horizon prior to then, when times were so good. But since then it's been BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID BE AFRAID.

Yes, it just seems strange to me. Doesn't it seem strange to any of you?

[Hissyspit]

1. I certainly have lost faith in my fellow Americans.

Well-put, so I'll give you a nom. :7

[Frank Cannon]

3. What the hell's the matter with people?

I mean WTF?????

[LiberalEsto]

6. It's not Americans I've lost faith in.

It's the hijacked government.

It's the greedy, unrestrained, conscienceless corporations.

It's a Rethug party that's morphed from a group of conservatives into all-out, stop-at-nothing evil.

[hlthe2b]

2. I can relate...

I suspect the majority of Americans can, given the statistics, Bush* tries so hard to disguise.


I want my country back. What was so bad about peace and prosperity, again, all you lurking RWers?

[AX10]

4. That's how I feel.

.

[LoKnLoD]

5. You're not alone

your story sounds like mine and alot of other Americans I believe.

[Loge23]

7. Just a guess, but...

...I take it you're not one of the top 2%!
I don't mean to salt the wound, but maybe the avain flu has already hit. How else can we ever explain how we lost our freedom? What happened to government by and for the people??
The events that have occured since 2000 were exactly the kind of things that we used to rail about and be dismissed as exaggerating.
But here we are: unions trashed, corporatations rule, tax cuts for the wealthiest, the poor are ignored, basic, fundamental American freedoms gone.
Unfortunately, at this point, no reawakening of outrage by the masses will undo the damages wrought upon us. We're cooked and I am, well, afraid.

[O.M.B.inOhio]

16. Yup, it wasn't the terrorists that sunk the economy &looted the treasury

It was the occupation government in Washington and their friends.

[zanne]

8. I've seen changes in friends and family, too

I think it's been like an episode from The Twilight Zone. People I've know for years and close family succumbing to the blame-the-poor, take-me-back-to-the-50's war culture who used to just LOVE Bill Clinton, affirmative action and equality for everyone, now looking at me like I'VE gone nuts. My sister and I were always best friends; now we have a list of things we can't talk about anymore. I'm just heartsick.

[Frank Cannon]

12. Economically, I only wish we were going back to the '50s

Although there's a lot to hate about the '50s (racism, McCarthyism, etc.) remember when an entire family could be supported by ONE wage-earner with ONE job? Think we'll ever see that again? Not in my remaining lifetime.

[zanne]

24. That's true.

My father worked in a shoe factory. He bought some land, built a house and was the sole wage earner for a family of seven. No, I don't think we'll ever have that kind of economy again. The wages would have to go WAY up.

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. Sucked since 12/12/2000. Sucked again after 11/02.

Sucked even more after 11/03/04. Thanks for nothing you self serving and self absorbed "Values" voters! :grr:

[leftofthedial]

10. absolutely

it's been a steady, precipitous decline in almost every facet of life.

[stevedeshazer]

11. Precisely how I feel.

No steady job, doing temp work at 1/3 what I made in 2000.

Local taxes rising, health care precarious, fuel and heating costs going exponential.

You wanna talk fear, the economy is what I'm really afraid of.

[Frank Cannon]

14. And yet the media will tell you the economy's TERRIFIC!!

And every time I hear that crap, I expect to see Rod Serling standing in the corner with a cigarette in his hand!

[adarling]

18. I base the economy off my parents

because they are middle middle class, now heading towards lower middle class and they have not been "comfortable" wiht money since Bush took office. He is slowly or some cases quickly destroying the middle class, why do they say that it is a great economy. I guess there are two "greats" one where everyone is thriving and unemployment is at 3% or where the rich is thriving and unemployment is close to 6% now, maybe even higher.

[Frank Cannon]

23. My parents retired early because they thought things were great

My mother even voted for the moron in 2000, against my STRONGEST objections. Now she rails against the idiot, and what can I say as the dutiful son? "YOU VOTED FOR HIM, YOU STUPID *&^%&^!!!" She's my mother, for crying out loud.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

13. If I wasn't afraid before

after reading your horror story I am now!

I hope things pick up for you very soon.

[Frank Cannon]

15. Thanks, Grannie

I hope things pick up for all of us.

[adarling]

17. Its true, i have had the sense of always being on edge

since Nov. 2000. Not because i was scared but because my life and everyone else around has changed so drastically and not for the better. All I know is that i am more tired now than i have been ever in my life and more stressed out. Its not normal, i remember 1998 when gas in Texas was 75 cents a gallon that summer. hahaha. wow things have changed.

[CTyankee]

19. Like being in an abusive relationship

Beaten daily, never know what punishment to expect next. You get slapped around so much you are fearful and apprehensive. I have these little anxiety attacks and a feeling of dread. Now I know what a battered woman feels like (or almost).

[Rex]

20. Had a great IT job and was making pretty good money.

The company I worked for almost fell apart after 911. In two week, over 75% of the companies workforce was laid off. We lost millions of dollars in electronic devices when tower 7 fell. So yeah, life was ALOT better prior to 2000.

[Frank Cannon]

21. Nothing like relatively good wages and low energy prices...

to make you think you're doing okay. Then suddenly, it's like the rug is pulled out from under you, and it all coincides with a certain point in time. Certainly food for thought.

[SmokingJacket]

22. Hell yeah. nt

[onecent]

25. Yep! n/t

[Hissyspit]

26. kick

[wadestock]

27. Before this thread gets locked....

Let me say very plainly America has gone to the toilet since 911.
The country has been in a mass psychosis.

Ever notice the increased road rage...the shallow nauseating "hi how are you's"....over and over again.

Notice the reduced trust you have in people.
Notice how people just don't get together like they used to.

Couple 911 with the exploitation of the right wing party...and excruciatingly constant diatribe by Limbaugh et al.... into this neurosis and you have the new America.

Brain dead.
Buying Chinese crap like it's going out of style.
Unable to raise their kids.
Unable to educate themselves.
It's a freekin nightmare.

[area51]

28. I hear you.

Bush has really cratered this economy, yet the rightwing-biased media still lies that the economy is booming, & that the unemployment rate is only around 5%. It's much higher than that. The media are such frigging Bush whores.