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Originally Posted by bmurphy

Will Florida EVER recover, in your opinion?

Will they get a handle on crime? It seems like they may be heading in the right direction (with some 25 criminals taken into custody last week, I read on here), but they've got a long way to go.

Will Americans in general be able to be smart enough to combat global warming? The reason I ask is because supposedly global warming is causing progressively worse hurricanes (I don't know if I believe it, but it's a good question to ask for discussion).

I know the cost of living is NOT going to go down. At least not in my opinion. Usually things don't get much cheaper after getting more expensive. At least not without a reason. Your thoughts?

Will Florida ever be nice? Will they get a handle on infrastructure, and put in things like light rails to better handle crowds? Or is it doomed?

I really like Florida and may want to move there in a few years, but all the issues just scare me.

There's always been crime in Florida and other places too and there will always be crime as long as there is differences in income/poverty......i dont think Florida needs to recover....because it hasn't been as bad as it used to be in the past...there were years in the 70's and 80's when there were over 1200 murders ....so this is nothing new.....i dont understand why some people say recover or will they ever get crime under control.....there were serial killers here in the 80's ....remember Danny Rawlings and Ted Bundy? and 4 riots in Miami in the 80's ....there's been home invasions for as long as i can remember

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Originally Posted by triton1

It is not just Florida that is suffering from all of this; it is the entire United States of America! Bush and Cheney are killing the entire country!

Killing the country?....we are not even close to becoming a 3rd world place so whats all the fuss about....the crime and alot of other problems have always been around ...the only "NEW" thing americans are dealing with is the fear of terrorism ........i dont think that Bush or Cheney really have all that power to ruin a country....thier decisions are based on the info from the people that are around them so blame the people behind the scenes to

[mystree]

Let's face it folks, the entire country is fracturing between the "have nots," the "barely have anythings" and the "super haves."

This nation, let alone this state, will rapidly devolve into a typical banana republic if we don't start investing in social infrastructure. Unfortunately we live in a "Me me me" nation and we pay the consequences with failing schools and healthcare.

What I see in sunrico's post above with regards to "forces tending to keep the region apart" I already see developing across the country. I just read an article the other day that states the rich are getting richer FASTER than ever. That money never goes away. Once obtained (sometimes through hard work, more often than not through inheritance or passive means) and invested properly it will grow and grow and grow at exponential rates.

$500 purses are now "passe" --- the ultra rich seek out $5000 handbags. The wall themselves up in increasingly larger and more lavish homes, while older, formerly decent "working class" areas quickly devolve into ghettos and slums and the middle class enslaves themselves into debt to "buy up" to get away from the crime and ghetto.

And the best part is, the entire system is rigged in their (the ultra-rich) favor, designed to put as many blocks as possible for the "rest" of us to get a leg-up, while diverting everyone's anger at "welfare," which accounts for about 1% of the federal budget, and 2% of the state's budgets. (But let's turn a blind-eye to "corporate welfare" in an age where corporations are making record-breaking profits and CEOs make 800X the workers of their companies)......

Just the other day Republicans in Congress were up in arms about a Democratic plan to cap student loan interest rates to make college education more accessible. The Republican argument? It would "push out" private lenders. The poor, starving private banks won't be able to make as much money! Who cares. I am facing significant student loan burden soon, and that $400-$500 a month payment I will be paying for the next 20 years or so would SURE do nicely in a money market or investment account, accumulating interest and helping to fund a nice retirement and reducing my future dependence on social security, but noooooo, the banks need money!!


Sorry about the tangent, but it's only a slight one, indicative of the type of "people second" mindset that WILL breed crime, discontent, and inequality and make life miserable and harder for all of us in this state and country who CAN'T afford to live on Jupiter Island with the road sensors and cameras everywhere!

Well said and I absolutely agree.