The inference you are making is that somehow or other this is all the fault of the American worker. There is a bigger picture. It is true that "some" Americans expected to quickly realize the "American" dream of wealth and riches, however there are millions of Americans who "were" very content making a modest living, paying taxes, and owning there homes. The real issue at hand is based on a very simple reality. In a nutshell:
There is no way that American engineers (software, hardware ect.) can compete on a global scale with workers from China, Russian, India,Taiwan ect..
Engineers in these counties work for $200 a week. This is not even the minimum wage in America, engineers in these counties are being paid less than a teenager in Burger King in America. It is very clear that within a few years there will be no software, hardware jobs in America. Just today Motorola announce another 7,000 lay-offs, at the same time it announce it is expanding its silicon foundry alliance with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. Also Microsoft just announced that it is going to invest $750 million in China. Is anyone talkink about this in the media? Wouldn't you say that this may be part of the problem behind our current economic downward spiral? I do not think Americans realize the impact this will ultimately have on our economy.