Yet the difference isn't really that much. If you look around at the US today, you will see the US of yesterday with but a few changes. There are more homeless, more empty stores and fewer shoppers, but the Hoovervilles of old have yet to manifest in the same numbers and the scenes of hundreds of unemployed jumping on boxcars and heading for greener pastures are nowhere in sight. The employment situation of today has not yet reached the levels of the Great Depression of yore.
Europe has been living with high numbers of unemployment for decades. Yet even though Europe's unemployment record is consistently higher than the US's, with some countries at double the rate, major unrest and strife as a result is nowhere in sight. At the same time, Europe has seen to it that these less fortunate citizens are taken care of and are not marginalized. In fact, Spain, with an unemployment rate of about 20%, shows few signs of major unrest nor antigovernment movements populated with the anger of the jobless. Clearly, even though 20% unemployment can be a major burden on any economy, it is by no means the guaranteed catalyst of political unrest that so many Americans pretend it to be today.
Even though the US is approaching these numbers, and may well achieve them within the next twelve months, historical, empirical data suggests that there will probably be little movement in the way of civil unrest or popular revolt as a direct result of this. Stated differently, the US government still has a lot of leeway in this regard before having to face a populace angry enough to overthrow them. Trust me, the US government is even more aware of these facts than we could ever be.
35% UNEMPLOYMENT
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