Understatement of the year? Joe Biden says Americans are "down", blames Coronavirus pandemic for bad national mood.

 

Joe Biden during his interview with the Associated Press. New York Post/AP.

Joe Biden says Americans are "really, really, down" and blamed the poor national mood on the Coronavirus pandemic. New York Post. Biden said that demand for mental health treatment has gone up due to everything they count on being "upset". Biden said that it was "bizarre" to blame inflation on the massive Coronavirus relief bills and said that a recession was still avoidable. Biden cited a low unemployment rate as a reason why America was in a better position than the rest of the world. 

The Associated Press has an article about their interview with Biden. 

My Comment:

First of all, Biden is totally wrong. Nobody is blaming the current situation on the Coronavirus pandemic anymore. Indeed, I don't think people think about it at all. I know that in my personal life I haven't heard much about it at all, other than the many people at work that complain that we still have some coronavirus restrictions. 

Coronavirus is just not relevant anymore. Supposedly we are having a spike in cases here in the United States, but you would never know it. Most people have antibodies now and even if they don't the current strains of the virus are not anywhere near as dangerous as the original Wuhan strain. Biden's claim here is ludicrous. 

I do think that people are losing it because their lives have been disrupted. I know I have been extremely frustrated with just about everything that is happening. Had the economy not crashed I probably would have bought a house by now, instead I am worrying if my money is about to be made worthless and pretty much given up on ever owning a home. There is no amount of certainty about anything right now and that is leading to a large amount of stress. 

Biden is totally wrong about the Coronavirus relief bills not causing inflation. Of course it did! You can't print that much money without there being consequences. And giving people a large amount of money will cause them to spend more, which increases demand and thus increases prices. It's not the total story, gas and food prices would have gone up for other reasons, which are Biden's fault as well, but it's idiotic to argue that the relief bills did not contribute. 

I don't think recession is avoidable at this point. People are losing so much money due to higher prices and energy costs that they won't have money to spend on anything else. That means people will buy less and then companies will have to make cuts. Plus the government is doing next to nothing to lower inflation and gas prices and as long as that is true nothing will change. 

I also don't think Biden should be bragging about low unemployment. 3.6% isn't bad but like I said, it won't last. And I don't think anyone who is upset about where the country is right now is happy that they have a job. What good is a job if it can't pay your bills? 

But Biden is right about one thing. The national mood is awful. People are extremely upset about everything that is happening. Inflation is up, gas is up, wages are stagnant and people just can't handle it anymore. Not to mention the massive culture war that shows no sign of slowing down. It's as bad as I have ever seen it and even the darkest days of the Coronavirus pandemic or the 9/11 attacks were more optimistic and positive than things are now...