So, what is the current state of the Union?

Many of my neusletter readers are professionals and folks with advanced degrees. Many of my clients are middle class or poorer people. The gap between these worlds is rather stark. There was a news item today that binge drinking (5 or more drinks in a sitting) and marijuana use among 35-50 year olds is at record levels and that alcohol related deaths in the retiring baby boomers are also at record levels. So, people are not coping as well these days across the entire economic spectrum as pre-pandemic. I think that that is fairly well-established. Plus, people are behaving worse in public, particularly on airplanes. I don’t know why people choose airplanes as the best place to take a stand for their principles or behavior, but there are better places to do that. I used to think that acting out inappropriately in public was a function of the Real Housewives tv series showing just how ridiculous people act with each other. Unfortunately, common decency seems to have fallen far below the Real Housewives level. I lived in New York on 9/11 and the City really, really came together for a while after that event. I think that we would all rather live in a situation where the Greater Philly area came together, without the need for an international crisis event. Just saying.