On a day when Americans are keenly aware of economic hardships ahead, those symbols of Baby Boomer excess–Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Ben and Jerry’s–are giving voters free stuff, to promote their products, of course, but unintentionally taunting them with little luxuries they may soon not be able to afford.
Assuming a victory by Obama and his post-Boomer generation, David Brooks foresees “the irony…that they will be confronted by the problem for which they have the least experience and for which they are the least prepared: the problem of scarcity.”
After decades of self-indulgence, Americans are suddenly facing the fact that what looked like a perpetual free ride to prosperity has a toll bridge up ahead, and once the election euphoria wears off, the hints that Obama has been tossing off about shared sacrifice during the campaign will become a central reality of our new political life.