Unemployment rate

Unemployment in the United States as of November 1, 2008 was 6.5%. Unemployment statistics on January 1, 1982, one year after Ronald Reagan took office, was at 10.4%. As Reagan said: "If your neighbor is unemployed it's a recession. If you're unemployed it's a depression" Every generation gives us a new set of homeowners, voters, taxpayers and chronic complainers. They think what is happening to them is occurring for the first time in history or, could it be that they should always be able to follow the yellow brick road without repercussion? This reminds me of what one of my students told me in 10th grade western civ my first year of teaching: "History? Why study it? Their ain't no future in it".