I love my friends. Even more so, i value their idea of a good night. Tonite, amongst friends, a friend of a friend (an economist type) came to speak with us about “3 bubbles [equity, housing, $], 2 strategies [US globalization, neoclassical economics], 1 crises [global economy in 7-10 years]: How the Global Economy Is Unraveling Before Your Very Eyes.” Basically, it was a discussion on economics and its impact on the global economy, discussing our government’s perspective on economics from a historical vantage point.

This was followed by a discussion of Democratic candidates (and a reminder to vote in the primary at moveon.org). The short version is that everyone in our circle loves Dean, thinks that Edwards has the best chance of winning, and doesn’t want to listen to the rational one who thinks that Bush has four more years.

Following the conversation on economics, oil and politicians, we moved to the bar where we discussed how the political movements based on sex, race and sexuality are entirely different because of how those populations exist in American society. Men and women pervade almost all environments, while most communities are segregated based on race and every community has a handful of sexual minorities (except my neighborhood). Thus, the politics for creating cohesion amongst those groups varies tremendously. Part of the concern comes down to how one bridges the gaps between various groups. For example, when someone in South Dakota knows someone who is gay, they are far more accepting of gay folks in general. Yet, things like race and political viewpoints don’t work like that… because your family member isn’t likely to be of a different race than you and politics don’t operate as divisely (by and large).

Anyhow, goofy conversations that made me smile the whole way home.