If these trends continue, and most evidence suggests they will, one of the central ironies of the Obama years will be that a Democratic administration committed to pushing back against the unjust distribution of resources and to the promotion of morally cohesive communities will in fact have overseen an eight-year period of social disintegration, inequality and rising self-preoccupation.
When one of the employees stumbles trying to take a phone order from the United States, the customer hollers, "Am I calling freaking India to get a mug that says, 'America's No. 1'?" Even "Mike & Molly,"a CBS romantic comedy about a police officer and a teacher, can't shake off the national preoccupation with rising obesity rates.
Asian investors were betting on Friday that the might ride in to rescue troubled mortgage finance markets, but continuing preoccupation with rising oil tempered bullish sentiment in some markets, resulting in a day of ups and downs.
Rising inflation has become the preoccupation of many Argentines.
Evidently, Brooke used to mock people who seemed bitter when she was younger, but now she herself is bitter, and her actual preoccupations rise to the surface past all the swirl of hobby fads and projects.
A rising currency also stems inflation — a major preoccupation of the Fed before the latest crisis.
But the United States' preoccupation with Pakistan — a nuclear-armed state with rising levels of militancy — revolves around more than Bin Laden, important as he was, and officials on both sides may seek to avoid a sharp turn toward hostility.
But Mr. Greenspan's immediate preoccupation is to be on guard for signs of rising inflation.
His manipulation relied on people's indifference to politics and their preoccupation with enjoying the many pleasures made possible by rising oil prices and a resulting consumer boom.
With rising foreign origin populations, social and economic integration of migrants has become a major preoccupation in many migrant receiving societies.
