3. Explain to me what has happened in this country during the last 10 years?

The U.S. has become increasingly divded during the last 10 years. September 11, 2001 the country was one, united in grief, after terrorists boarded passenger jets that destroyed lives, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and our sense of being immune/protected. The subsequent war and reasons for going to war as well as expenditures on the war divided the country. The boom of 2003-2007 led to a recession and unemployment rate that again divided the country. The repackaging of consumer debt and mortgages was controversial as banks appeared to be betting against ordinary citizens to default, and extending mortgages to borrowers with shaky creditworthiness in a way that virtually guaranteed a high rate of default. The recession of 2008, 2009, 2010 divided the country politically and economically. We bickered about solutions. Some engaged in "class warfare." As an immigrant to the U.S. I was unhappy to see this seeming injury (not death) of the American Dream. I understood the Occupy Wall Street protestors who started their campaigns in mid-September 2011 nearly 10 years after a different crisis in downtown New York had united us.

Went over 5 minutes but the question deserved more time.