Losing our pain threshold

George Will's latest column is worth reading. He exposes the misplaced hype behind the economic downturn. Compared to years past, we are not in a "crisis" by any measure. Perhaps the most powerful line in the piece is this one in reference to a report about a man who will have to wait until he is 62 to retire:

Deranged by the entitlement mentality fostered by a metastasizing welfare state, Americans now have such low pain thresholds that suffering is defined as a slight delay in beginning a subsidized retirement often lasting one-third of the retiree's adult lifetime.

I'm worried that if we cannot find it in ourselves to abstain from bailing out every person who faces hardship, we're not going to be able to meet the challenges ahead. Maybe one good outcome of the softening economy will be a greater pain threshold for everyone. We're going to need it.