Oh I agree completely. The problem is that life got massively better for a while. That's stopped as the industrial revolution has slowed down. I don't mean t

Oh I agree completely. The problem is that life got massively better for a while. That's stopped as the industrial revolution has slowed down. I don't mean that the world is getting worse, just that it's getting awesome at a much slower rate. BUT the pensions and social security and whatever are premised on the world getting more bitchin' at a high rate. That high rate is gone, but the programs put into place while it was around are still around, and they haven't been adjusted. I don't mind that we've returned to slow growth instead of rapid, so long as it happens to everyone. That does not seem to be the case re: social security, the housing market, etc and those are largely dictated by government. The Fed (a quasi-government agency) sets the interest rate and thus has a lot of control over housing prices. The Federal Government enacted Social Security and refuses to reform it in any meaningful way. As a result I'm not optimistic that social cohesion will continue. We're graduating people who can't buy houses or cars or start families at a substantial rate. Loss aversion is a REALLY strong emotionally motivating force for humans as we're wired to avoid losses much more aggressively than pursue gains. But if you don't have much to lose any possibility of gain appealing and that's how you have a revolution.