No, it isn't any wonder. I don't know if it's Americans in particular, or humans in general, but foresight is not our specialty.
American baby boomers may have to delay retirement because they weren't saving enough? No surprise to anybody who paid any attention to the personal debt figures in the late 1980s and all through the 1990s.
The military presence in Iraq is overstraining America's armed forces? Only a surprise to people that didn't know that the military failed to meet its recruiting target in 1999. (And I think it fell short once or twice in the five years before that.)
The housing crunch coming from people defaulting on sub-prime loans? Only a surprise to people like me, who didn't realize how many sub-prime loans were being made.
Yet people are surprised by these things. Still more people either don't care, or feel powerless to act. I do what I can - but I don't know how to fix things, and sometimes I don't even know what to do that won't make matters worse.
no subject
American baby boomers may have to delay retirement because they weren't saving enough? No surprise to anybody who paid any attention to the personal debt figures in the late 1980s and all through the 1990s.
The military presence in Iraq is overstraining America's armed forces? Only a surprise to people that didn't know that the military failed to meet its recruiting target in 1999. (And I think it fell short once or twice in the five years before that.)
The housing crunch coming from people defaulting on sub-prime loans? Only a surprise to people like me, who didn't realize how many sub-prime loans were being made.
Yet people are surprised by these things. Still more people either don't care, or feel powerless to act. I do what I can - but I don't know how to fix things, and sometimes I don't even know what to do that won't make matters worse.