Disaster is now

what people need to understand is that the crisis is happening now. This is the worst recession since the Great Depression. It is the only world wide recession since the Great Depression. One does not need to worry that we are setting the stage for a future disaster: this is what a disaster looks like. We are in it. We are living it.

I think that on the one hand people do not realize how bad things are. Some of it is that folks who are comfortable don’t realize the suffering among the more vulnerable sectors. Some it is that people don’t realize that without action there is not necessarily an end in sight. Some of it is that soaring productivity is obscuring real losses. Corporate profits have recovered and hence the stock market has recovered somewhat.

However, the core reality is that there are millions of American’s who are willing to work and could be producing value for themselves and for the nation but are not. The disaster is now.
Karl Smith, Modeled Behavior (my bold)