Editorial: In 2012, the Haves vs. the Have-nots, paid for by Have-lots

Editorial: In 2012, the Haves vs. the Have-nots, paid for by Have-lots

click link

snips

In the introduction to "Inferno," a magisterial new history of World War II, the eminent British historian Max Hastings writes, "One of the most important truths about the war, as indeed about all human affairs, is that people can interpret what happens to them only in the context of their own circumstances."

This is a useful truth at all times, but particularly in the annual exercise of summing up the year just passed and anticipating the one ahead. Many people no doubt had a wonderful 2011 — a wedding, a birth, a new home, a promotion. Others may have lost someone close to them, been evicted or foreclosed upon or lost a job. They will not remember 2011 fondly.

In the long view of history, years don't matter much. Entire decades and even centuries get a paragraph or two. We found this about the decade 100 years ago: "America came of age. The Titanic was sunk and Americans marched off to war in Europe."

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-in-the-haves-vs-the-have-nots-paid-for/article_9935559a-fd60-5d9f-a72b-04865e644b19.html#ixzz1iPqMWYIg