Sheri, thanks for the volunteering of your age, I see you now at a different perspective...makes it easiers to understand...
Usually people have more socialistic or idealistic ideas at a younger age...I did too...
I was actually FOR Jimmy Carter at that eection...as you grow older ,the 'tendncy' is to get more conservative...not in all cases..
you are the age between my two oldest, my daughter 35 living in Denmark...and my son 33 living in Sweden...my daughter still has some more left leaning ideas than I do, its from the environment there, my son do not....my younger kids , one daughter ,27,in LA , she went
to college there, became very "Democratic" for a couple of years...but has since changed her mind...Hollywood is very left leaning and since she is trying to get in that businness, it has had a lot of impact on her thinking...my son ,just out of college from NOLA, is vERY right wing...so within the family we do discuss poilitics a bit...we have ,and have had varying positions...
thats just an explanation on where I get my perspective from , being on of the older guys here, 65, not retired, probably never will....(dont know what to do with myselfif not working, plus I could probably not afford it anyway after putting kids thru private schools and colleges...)
just touching that subject, college, is also "free" in Sweden...sounds good ,doesnt it....for a student is IS good, its like a student loan that you dont pay back in a few years, but your entire life, by higher taxes...and everybody else pays on your loan too...

personally, I lived in Sweden 77-78 when I got a divorce...my income then was in Swedish Crowns 5,000/mo...my inc tax vracket wasONLY 50%, so I got 2,500...good do far..
get a divorce , I pay child support , court said 900/child = 1800,..
so now I have 2500- 1800 = 700 left...apt rent was 1700...see a problem? I`m now at -1000...apt were at at 5-6 years wait in line, and a shortage... you want to eat? ,sounds good to me.
as I told friends I was retyrning to the US where I could get a job that paid enough and taxes were low so I could afford to pay my child support ,they said , "but the state will help , and give you rent support, even food support"...
well, I am the type that doesnt like hand outs, I like to take care of myself , my family by me working...so I came here again..I do not regret it.

thru other curcumstances I have been poor while here, I`ve also been rich here...lost amounts of money I could just dream of having....but I wouldnt trade this for anything...I really hate to see anyone with "wealth re distrubution" on his/her agenda coming to power...


and Sheri, very good discussion so far!
You should have heard my discussion with my LA daughter before she was ready to vote for Gore! she evetually didnt, and now she cannot figure out how she ever was thinking tha way, but I can...it was peer pressure...I now tell her to not discuss politics with co workers, she`ll never get admitted into those Hollywood circles...LOL


and , being 34 with a 14 yr old is not that early...my ex, when I met her she was 19 then ,she had a mother at 39, a grandma at 59, a great grandma at 79...her great great had just died...if she hadnt died and we had had kids a little earlier ,when she was 20...we could have had6 generations living!!