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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 12, 2022

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I somewhat agree. I do feel like if Trump or some outgroup leader were in charge, no one would let us forget that we're in a recession, because everyone loved to blame absolutely everything they could on Trump. But I also don't think the media is covering for Biden, I think that they're just not as focused on it as they would be were Trump in charge.

I remember seeing significant coverage of the recession earlier this year, like January through March. Then things got better for like a month or two, and then things got way worse again. I feel like since it's the 2nd time around in a short period, it just seems like old news. Everyone got their panic and worry out the first time, and now they're just either in silent despair or have come around to accepting or ignoring the bad news. I always feel like screaming at people, "Don't you care about your financial security??? Why is no one talking about this???"

then things got way worse again

What things? Not [unemployment[(https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf), nor personal income. Even inflation has not gotten worse since March

Look at how most major indicies that closely track the market are doing, like DOW, for example.

But, the stock market is not the economy.

I don't know enough about the economy to argue this one way or the other. My general laymen impression had been that the stock market represents and is intricately tied to the health of the economy. After all, the stock market crash in 1929 is what kicked off the Great Depression. And besides, what had impacted me the most strongly has been the fact that all of my pretty safe investments have tanked, combined with the fact that inflation is still completely horrible and has decreased all of my savings by 8.5%, meanwhile I prepare for a winter that will cost me thousands due to fuel prices being bonkers.

I can't comment on your personal finances, obviously, but you were originally saying that people **in general **are in despair because the economy **in general **is supposedly so terrible, and that, specifically, that things have gotten "way worse" since March. But, none of that is true.

I don't know, I just feel like I heard so much about it the first time around, and now no one (around me, at least) is talking about it. It just feels like an "old news" effect. People have come to accept it. I think I even heard people praising Biden, that he made the gas prices so much better, brought them down from $5 to $3.75. And it's like if you compare it to under Trump, it's still way worse. And inflation may not have gotten worse, but my salary and savings are still worth 8.5% less than they were 9 months ago. The lack of things getting worse for a few months, or things getting slightly better, may have an IMO undeserved ameliorating effect in people's minds. Like if life is generally at a 7, then things go down to a 4, and everyone's horrified. Then it goes back up to a 5, and people are cheering for it. But to me, I'm wondering why we had to go down from a 7 to a 5.

Again, I don't see where there is evidence that things are either a 4 or a 5. So, it is hardly surprising that people are not particularly upset, though FWIW I don't think that polling on "right direction / wrong direction" has improved.

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What recession? The media made it very clear that two consecutive quarters of negative GDP doesn't necessarily mean a recession, until the experts declare it so.