But but but … aren’t there demonstrations in many parts of Euroland, while here in the USofA we see the masses clutching the hopes of “green shoots” like life preservers, with no significant public outcry. I thought that we here in America were supposed to be a lot less tolerant of these sorts of situations.

I suppose that if one looks only at unemployment, in the context of our relative paucity of social safety nets, then yes, things are worse here. And perhaps — perhaps — things are worse from a personal asset destruction perspective in America.

I dunno. Maybe I’ve totally misjudged the character of the American public, or perhaps the outrage is yet to come, once they figure out that the Good Old Days are not returning anytime soon. Maybe when the boomers have worked a decade past the point at which they intended to retire, or see the barriers to collecting Social Security benefits going up up UP, there will be some public expression of their disillusionment.