Quote of the Day

“In Latin American, African or Asian countries, I sometimes see shiny tanks and fighter aircraft — but schools that have trouble paying teachers. Sound familiar? And the upshot is societies that are quasi-feudal, stratified by social class, held back by a limited sense of common purpose.” — Nicholas Kristof addressing, among other issues, the diminished net worth of the average American. It’s something that ought to be a loud and alarming wake-up to the casino industry, which is cantilevered toward serving a relative handful of high-net-worth individuals. That’s not a viable strategy for supporting the recent series of multibillion-dollar edifice complexes. And you don’t have to go to the Third World to find the feudalistic economic conditions Kristof describes in his column: Much of it sounds quite like contemporary Las Vegas. I’ve lived here for over 12 years and the (im)balance has definitely shifted.