The Way We Live Now: giving up on ourselves. That's a step in the right direction! It's ourselves that got ourselves into this mess. The sooner we turn to other, better people for help, the better off we'll be. Hopefully.

At long last, more Americans are giving up their entrepreneurial dreams and becoming one with the unavoidable System. Self-employment is falling, and that's a positive sign that we're finally waking up to the reality that we'll probably never make it using just our own wits and talents. Those things are nice in fairy tales, but marketing a fairy tale these days takes a multinational corporation. Just accept it.

"Sensibleness." That's the quality we Americans need to triumph over our latent despair. We're all doing our holiday shopping with cash only this year. Sensible. CEOs are giving up just enough perks to draw attention away from their huge pay packages. Sensibe. Nuns are embezzling huge sums from second tier colleges.

Sensible.

This is a recovery, friends. The average American family wealth has grown by more than 2% this year, thanks to the rallying stock market. Granted, if you don't have stocks, or wealth, this may not apply to you so much. But the average is what's important. I'm average. You're average. Together we're all average. Never fight it. There's always below average waiting for the risk-takers.

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