I know the feeling he is referring to. I am one of the privileged few (not that I'm rich, but middle class) in a very economically depressed area. All the businesses I regularly support are mostly supported by my peers. There isn't a lot of time when I'm interacting with my neighbors who are from the other half (which is way weirder than Simon's case in that I'm not talking 20 blocks; I'm talking half a block to poverty in my case).

Just yesterday, mk and I were lamenting the job situation. He and I are colleagues, and he is in the process of hiring a new person. One applicant, a person with a master's degree in biology, put on their application form that they would be willing to work for $11/hr. WTF? That's a travesty. What the hell can anyone do with $11/hr (roughly $23,000/yr)? Is that really the state of America, the richest country in history? It's sad, but I also think it's fixable. The current trajectory is not sustainable. Something's gotta give. It might not happen in the next year or two, but eventually civil unrest is going to set in. What other possible alternative is there?