I didn't say I'd spent any time being "the poor" in Britain. The social safety net here is quite different.
I *am* the social safety net here.
Yes, but by the nature of your job, you see the worst of the worst, right? That experience would affect your perceptions, because that group isn't representative of the whole.
Mostly it's people over 50 who have been thrown on the industrial scrap-heap, so to speak.
Many of the multi-generational issues tend to be mentally retarded people or psychiatric impairments. Apple. Tree.
However, in addition to that, there's the amusing fact that future investment returns across all asset classes are being driven toward zero over all timeframes.
Then there's the generational element. Charles Hugh Smith, my favorite pessimistic permabear, has a really nice blog post today:
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogmay13/genX5-13.html
