Alice, that is all well and good. However, as Richard Bridge pointed out, there is this trap that has conveniently been laid at our feet, hoping we won't be paying close attention to our next few steps.

The center of American politics has moved very far right since 1980. It is deemed quite reasonable for people to move to the right, but NEVER to the left, no matter how far right they might be.

That has been the result of probably the most successful propaganda campaign in world history (I really do believe historians will see it that way), which has been the propaganda campaign waged by a coalition of conservative politicians of both parties, business interests, and corporate controlled media to demonize and dismantle progressive changes in national governance in the FDR & JFK/Johnson eras.

For example, there was an interestng little piece Elizabeth Vargas did on the ABC newsmagazine the other night, on government services that provide day care for working families. Not just for single mothers, but for all working families. Over 70% of American families now have both parents AND the vast majority of single parents (not all of whom are women) working outside the home over 40 hours per week.

There are currently only 4 countries on the planet that do not provide child care as a government service, just like public education. Here is the link. The US is one of them.

Why do most Americans not know how BAD we actually have it here, in the richest country on earth, in the entire history of the world?

Why do most Americans not realize how BADLY OFF we are, not only in comparison to the rest of the industrialized world when it comes to government services for our tax dollars, but also how badly off we are now compared to how well off we used to be before the Republicans took over in 1980, and began dismantling the New Deal and Great Society government reforms?