[James Brancheau]

So I'm responding late. The commas don't bother me so much, Julie, but lack of precision does. The cartoon implies that what's going on is a matter of perspective. And it's just not.

[Julie Steiner]

The following is not a defense of my use of the cartoon, which I agree was not helpful to this particular context and discussion--just some musing on it:

The caption's flat statement (not just an implication) that both characters are equally right is demonstrably not true. The number that they are seeing was presumably created by a third character, who intended to convey only "6" or "9"--not both. Therefore, at least one of the two characters we see must be objectively wrong.

(If the unseen character who wrote the number was wrong, or lying, both seen characters are wrong about whatever truth they think they are seeing. Or there could have been a fourth character who erased another digit that the third had written beside this one--again, making both seen characters wrong.)

[James Brancheau]

Ok, obviously didn't get it, Julie. I do believe things happen slowly, over time. I firmly believe that gutting the middle class over the last 40 years has landed us where we are.

[Julie Steiner]

Yes, and continually cutting education funding over the last 40 years has also had predictable societal outcomes.