Joe Klein is not happy:

In a good way. Klein sees the economy as the concern of most Americans (and "liberals"). But there's always the opposite view, promoted today by George Will, that economic concerns don't matter much at all:

Unfortunately, the phrase "better off" is generally understood as a reference to your salary, your bank balance, your IRA and the like. But wait. Are you better off being four years older? That depends.

If you are young, since 2004 you might have found romance, had children, learned to fly-fish and become a Tampa Bay Rays fan. In which case you emphatically are better off ...

If you are [very old], in the past four years your expected remaining years of life have declined. But that does not mean you cannot be better off.

Suppose in those years you read "Middlemarch," rediscovered Fred Astaire's movies, took up fly-fishing, saw Chartres and acquired grandchildren.   ... are you not decidedly better off?

Lesson people of all ages:

If you've lost your job, are struggling to pay for healthcare, or your home is in or near foreclosure, take up fly-fishing!

posted by Quiddity at 9/07/2008 04:51:00 AM