Dec 5, 2012 Amid a worsening fiscal crisis, a crumbling economy,
and the destruction of over 40% of America’s wealth in just the
last few years, it should be quite clear that this is no
ordinary recession. In fact, with progressively dwindling job
opportunities, a long-term downward trend in real estate prices,
and the near doubling of participation in emergency benefits
programs like food stamps and disability, one could make the
argument that the United States is smack-dab in the middle of
the next Great Depression. The notion that we are potentially
facing a decades-long paradigm shift which threatens to alter
the very fabric of American life is becoming a stark reality for
many, especially America’s younger generations who, according to
a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, are
experiencing the highest jobless rates since at least World War
II: Forty years ago, a teenager leaving high school — with or
without a diploma — could find a job in a local factory. Twenty
years ago, even as manufacturi