It’s a terrible thing. If there’s one thing I’d change about American life? It’s not even politics or economics. I’d begin with ambient stress.

The stress can't be dialed down until we take back control of both our politics and our economy. It's always about keeping the people as low on Maslow's pyramid as possible and accentuating their base needs with only a vague promise of elevation above that "IF" one conforms and satisfies the demands of the masters of the universe we are forced to live in.

Americans are firmly convinced of their exceptionalism and see Europeans and others as dullards who will never compete with us. This is because we measure success in the only way we are allowed to, material possessions.

The thought of living in a home built long before we were born, or shopping somewhere that has existed more than a few years would be unthinkable. It drives our throw-a-way culture and our endless expansion, leaving yesterday's things in the wastebin for the poorer "others" to use as we turn to the newest and most extravagant places in our quest to distance ourselves from them.