Having enough money in the bank and knowing more is on the way in and being able to roll along comfortably within a reasonable framework, paying for this and that and going out to dinner every so often without getting the willies or waking up with sweat and worry at 3:30 am, is a truly peaceful and wonderful thing. I say this as someone who’s been sweating money issues for a long time. Hell, most of my life.

I would be very loath to give up this hard-won feeling of economic assurance. This instinct to guard against any kind of economic relapse and being extra-vigilant about keeping the hull sealed and the fort protected is how amiable, liberal, mild-mannered people start to become conservative fucks. I’ll never be a rightie, but I can see how the process begins.