What If You Lit a Spark & the Whole Thing Exploded?

Something just caught my attention and in the wake of our country's financial crisis, it made me wonder.  American government has long been seen as a benchmark in the world of democracy, but do we really have the voice we believe?  I can call my congressman tomorrow, and leave messages about what I think should happen (because realistically, if I call, am I really going to get to speak to Larry Kissell?), but will my message even be considered.  Maybe it is seen as extreme, but the Europeans may be on to something.  Here's the beginning of the article I was reading:

Anti-austerity protests erupted across Europe on Wednesday — Greek doctors and railway employees walked out, Spanish workers shut down trains and buses, and one man even blocked the Irish parliament with a cement truck to decry the country's enormous bank bailouts.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of Brussels toward European Union buildings in bright red, green and blue labor union jackets, aiming to reinforce the impact of Spain's first nationwide strike in eight years.

Strikes or protests were also taking place Wednesday in Greece, Portugal,Ireland,Slovenia,and Lithuania, all aimed at the budget-slashing, tax-hiking, pension-cutting austerity plans that European governments have implemented to try to control their debt.

You can read the rest of the article here:
http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/09/29/2010-09-29_protests_erupt_across_europe_as_tens_of_thousands_riot_over_unpopular_eu_plans_t.html

Just imagine, if this happened stateside.  Workers shutting down public transportation.  Professionals from all walks of life uniting saying "We need you guys to do something."

Bail-outs are important, I understand that, but who is it exactly that we've been really trying to bail out?

Just a thought