This Glass Is Half Full, Probably More

WASHINGTON

HERE is a political Rorschach test for this midterm election year. What's your reaction to the following:

These are the best of times in many ways. Americans are wealthier than previous generations, they are healthier and they enjoy a higher standard of living. The good old days simply weren't as good as the present day.

If that makes you a little squeamish, the odds are good that you generally vote Democratic. You see a lot of real problems — widening inequality, a big federal budget deficit, melting icecaps — and you have a hard time believing that the country has never been richer.

Oh, please.

We all know the country is richer. The problem is, "the country" isn't paying for rent, gas, medical expenses, etc. Humans are...and most of them have had no share in the increasing wealth of the country. Or, as Mr. Brooks says

the gap between rich and poor is widening. It's like global warming; you can resist the evidence for a while, but eventually you have to succumb.

So let's look at the other side of that Rorschach test: if that statement made you smile, you're one of the 5% that actually benefitted from privileging unearned income over earned income. It's very unlikely you actually work for a living.