[ThrustVectoring]

I think part of it is how the social safety net is done in the US. Americans have to "deserve" help, so when the lumber mill closes down for good, the 50 year old manual laborer has to become "disabled" due to his back pain in order to access the money he needs to survive. I've heard anecdotes of doctors asking whether patients have college degrees when they come in complaining of back pain. And the ranks of the disabled have swelled tremendously in recent years.