In the early 1980s, around the time Ronald Reagan became President and Wall Street's great modern bull market began, we started gambling (and winning!) and thinking magically.

The same zeitgeist made gambling ubiquitous

From the beginning to the end of the long boom, the size of the average new house increased by about half.

the average American gained about a pound a year, so that an adult of a given age is now at least 20 lb. heavier than someone the same age back then.

The '80s spirit endured through the '90s and the 2000s, all the way until the fall of 2008, like an awesome winning streak in Vegas that went on and on

This is the end of the world as we've known it. But it isn't the end of the world.

Our great national rehab won't be easy

The reset button has been pushed.

the familiar polarities of right and left are losing their salience.

The so-called millennials

the kids are all right.

the next big things will be actually, thrillingly new.