Americans generally know about the world past their door exclusively from the media. Global warming, the economic crisis, even tennis matches. I’m always fascinated when an active tennis player goes on the show w/ MacEnroe & company. It becomes very clear that the regular commentators are rehashing platitudes largely in a vacuum. The player from the locker room knows that the guy on the court has a sore knee they’re concealing or hates playing lefties or whatever. So much of what we hear is speculation or opinion or hope masquerading as fact.

As regards the economy, they say a person with one hand in boiling water and another in freezing water is on average comfortable. National statistics are like that. One place make be totally bombed out, but another is booming. The aggregate number means little to folks in either place, though I suppose it is of some use to policy makers who do manage the aggregate…