On some levels, I think the ones living in the most turbulent countries what comes to economy, are luckier than say myself that live in a country that so far have dodged most of the crisis. The mechanics of Norway have always been about international invincibility. Nothing can hurt Norway and it's interests. We were occupied by the Germans and came live and well out of it. We had the black plague killing off 2/3 of our population at the time and still we rose back up as one of the richest nations in the world.
We've been under both Swedish and Danish rule, but we lived on as Norwegians.
The world has been too good to us, the norwegian people are having troubles understanding that we aren't invincible, that we too can get in trouble. NATO has a firm grip on norwegian officials, as our coastline is a crucial entrypoint to Europe. We were lucky to have loads of saved assets to fence off the first wave of the crisis, but all this have made economists and governmental officials get the idea that nothing can happen to us, if you exclude Swineflu that is! :P
Thankfully, we have a few individuals that are trying to wake people up. They might be going about it in the wrong way at the moment, but they are learning.
I'm doing what I can with my friends and family, but at the same time making sure not to come forth as pushy and as a know-it-all.
My gut feeling has been telling me what this article states all along. We're in for a bumpy ride me thinks, but I'm welcoming it with open arms. The unfair system has to come to an end and I will do my sincere part when the time comes.
Lucrum