In late 2007 the American financial community bet everything on a roulette table gamble with all the money on Red. But the fake securities they knew would collapse did in fact collapse, almost destroying the world financial community.

Instead the collapse merely destroyed the world economy, throwing the developed nations into a deep recession from which recovery has been elusive.

The most significant impact of the recession has been the chaos of government funds in economies of all types and sizes.

Virtually all governments were forced to use public tax dollars to rescue their banks, as the U.S. did with TARP. But the rescue threw government economics into deficits like never before. It is the response of government, and citizens, to this crisis that has been most interesting to observe.

In most of Europe, citizens have far more benefits than Americans in terms of social services. Vacations average 8-12 weeks per year. Maternity leaves, often paid, may last two years. Retirement age comes as early as 60 years. Unemployment compensation can last four years.

But now, with their governments financially burdened with public debt from saving their banking systems (not their bankers who actually fared quite well), the citizens are rising in protests against planned government cutbacks in the social services people have come to appreciate and expect.

This week tens of thousands of citizens took to the streets across Europe to protest the loss of benefits they fear will come as a result of government austerity programs caused by banking fraud.

In Ireland the protests followed a national crisis that mirrors the American recession on a smaller scale. Ireland, like America, had the largest European housing boom and the most risk taking banking industry. When the housing market collapsed from its own excesses, and the American banks fell, so too did the Irish financial system.

This week Irish citizens took to the streets like their European counterparts to protest government cuts aimed at balancing budgets by cutting government wages and benefits and popular social services. The people seem to think it unfair and unreasonable that saving the banks and bankers should result in the destruction of the social benefits they have historically enjoyed.

What is wrong with these people?

Here, in America, we have no such marches and know far better than to seek to protect our social safety net in the wake of bankers doing what bankers do, making incredible money from handling other peoples’ money.

Bankers may have destroyed our housing equity and cost millions of people their homes; they may have ended the typical investment profits in investing in stocks that once helped American save; they may have closed down lending so much so that the economy is cash poor; and they may have raided our federal treasures to pay for their greed and excess…but we do not blame them in the least.

Of course not.

Unlike those silly foreigners we demand, with the voice of the Tea Party movement leaders like Rand Paul, Sharron Angle and Miller of Alaska, that we end Social Security, Medicare and any other social safety net program that exists. No marches here to protect the programs American have come to like and appreciate from government.

No, Americans are much wiser. We watch the bankers who were fired for gambling away the wealth of the nation turn to the foreclosure markets with new careers while we fight to reduce our own social safety net, forcing our government to cut our benefits or else!

The recession is worldwide … our response is unique.

Jim Crawford is a contributing columnist for The Tribune and a former educator at Ohio University Southern.