Summary # 1 T. Burns

"A Fire In The Basement" T. Burns

When Bob Herbert titled his essay "A Fire In The Basement", he is actually referring to a fire in the basement of the United States. He disagrees with a lot of what goes on in the World today as far as politics, economy, and the justice system go. Young men and women these days are joining the military in hopes for a secure job, constant paycheck, and a higher education . It seems times are worse now than they were during the Great Depression. Schools are closing early and closing all together because of lack of funds and he quoted a highschool physics teacher as saying "During the Great Depression we didn't close schools". Basically he is saying the situation seems worse now than it was even then. The justice system is letting people down because people are getting detained even if they are innocent and the government is not worried about that. They like to sort things out later. Any "middle class" tax cuts that President Bush put into affect are not helping the poor. They are giving more money to the richest of the population. Back in the 50's and 60's there were bad times but always seemed to be moving in the right direction. The US, in Bob Herbert's opinion, is not moving in the right direction. He states "Time is not on our side." With all that is going on most seem blind to it. That is why he referes to the United States basement being on fire. The blindness comes in when no one can smell it.