[MarkJ]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mcgowanjm', 'T')he 1 problem: Because of faulty ductwork, many schools have had to close due to busted pipes in the ceiling. OZ of prevention...

[spudbuddy]

Well now, if the American worker is disposable, I'd say that it won't be too long before the next generation of cannon fodder (otherwise known as college graduated indentured servants) will smartly step up to the plate and bunt their way on.
No suicide squeeze for them.
What that will mean, is a pronounced bowing out of the American swoon (useta be dream) altogether.
No credit risks for them. Hand to mouth. Gypsy lifestyles.
Forget mortgages, marriages, and upwardly mobile consumption habits.
Funny thing about that - they may come to resemble their elders' "hippie" lifestyles from days of yore - but lifestyles acquired for entirely different reasons. Nothing "cool" or faddish about it at all - survival mechanisms is what it's all about.
Think of it as a consumer revolt, of sorts. I can hardly wait.
I won't be surprised a bit. The smart ones will quickly come to realize that without anything remotely resembling job security, there's just no percentage anymore in trying to ramp up a lifestyle that depends entirely on wished for, hoped for...illusionary earnings - the kind that can disappear instantly.

That's the young generation. Sadly, the older folks that have been trying to hold their lives together with sticky tape and shoestrings for far too long - have invested too much sweat and debt for such solutions.
It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, though.