Reply #42: I agree -- but don't forget the 1890's or the 1950's

[Armstead]

I guess my view is that almost every era is alwys grappling with powerful change and unforeseen storm clouds (or foreseen ones)or even unforeseen positive changes.

The present always seems more dramatic because it's when we are alive to experience them firsthand. And because the subsequent history has not been written yet, we can't put it into a predetermined context. Who, for example, could have foreseen in the days of sweatshops and massive populations of the totally neglected poor in the Robber Baron Era that in future decades there would be Social Security, Medicare and other protections as the norm? Or who in the sedate 50's could have predicted the wrenching and fundamental turmoil of the 60's?

Maybe I'm just being a Pollyanna. But the US has withstood a heluva lot over its history, and I prefer to believe that we have the power to influence events in a more positive direction as we always have. Sometimes it's harder than others.