So the financial system has crashed but, unlike 1929, the elites have gamed the system in such a way that they walk away practically unscathed and it's the poor, working and middle classes who take the hit.

And what's worse is that the quip about american Idol is correct. Even now many, both in Britain and the US, will be outraged if you suggest that there are other, better ways of organising things. So long as there are people worse off to compare themselves to, people don't seem to mind suffering absolute decline in wealth.

keep to the Fen Causeway