Betting on America

Chapter 1. THE BUMPY ROAD TO A NEW NORMALCY

	Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances.
	--Thomas Jefferson

In both the best and worst of times, major changes can develop relatively unnoticed and unannounced. Then, suddenly, a shocking turn of events calls attention to changes that are well underway—the Boston Tea Party, Fort Sumter, a stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, assassinations, September 11, 2001. The world then seems to change suddenly when actually, changes were already taking hold. Despite the attention that dramatic events receive, they don't make changes. They call the country to attention. The more we have ignored signs and portents, the less prepared we are. First ...