As goes Greece?

I've been reading about/watching the news about the attempted "austerity" measures in Greece, and how apparently at least some of the people are rioting to try to stop them.

It's fascinating, in a horrible way. And it makes me wonder: was Greece just monumentally mismanaged, or is it the canary in the coal mine for the rest of Europe. I know the native-born birth-rates in many European countries have been falling - to the point where some countries have been dusting off France's post WWII offer of paying couples for each child (regardless, apparently, of their income status). It's because there's a real fear that (a) there will be insufficient taxpayers in the upcoming generation and (b) the country's culture will change as the native population shrinks, and the immigrant population (Turks in Germany; Albanians in Italy) swells.

And I wonder: Could France be next? Could those 6-weeks of vacation be doomed, as people begin to realize that the tax gravy train doesn't keep chugging along? (And France, with their history of highway-closing strikes - it could get ugly).

The thing that strikes me: it seems that the US government lately is wanting to push us in the direction where Europe is (or was, a few years ago): cradle to grave services. Cushy public-sector jobs. Unions having great power. I wonder if anyone in Washington is looking at Greece and going, "Wait, no....this might not be a smart direction to go in."

(Greece has a 21% VAT, if I remember correctly, and they're talking about raising it to 23%. Can you IMAGINE? A 20% tax on all goods? Horrifying. Maybe their income taxes are lower than ours - I HOPE - but I can't see paying 20% or more additional on everything I buy and use. I suspect if the government here tried to suddenly impose a 20% VAT, the riots in Greece would look puny by comparison).

I don't know. I guess, technically, I am a public-sector employee. As a professor at a state college, I am paid - in part, at least - by taxpayer dollars. And so I admit talk of "austerity measures" makes me nervous. I wouldn't have a problem with minimum retirement age being raised - heck, I plan to work until I'm 70 or older, provided my health holds out. And not-getting-pay-raises is pretty much a fact of life here. But I'd get worried if there were extreme cuts - like, talk of eliminating departments, or closing the smaller schools (mine is one of those). I don't know. I guess the thing that frustrates me is that I don't know how bad things could possibly get - sometimes I feel like I should be, I don't know, doing night classes training to be a phlebotomist or something just in case, so I have another career to "fall back on."

Do you know how much it sucks feeling like you might want to look into a second career to 'fall back on' at 40? Especially after spending the first nearly-30 years of your life prepping for the career you have now? But I suspect the policy-of-interfering that Washington has had of late (things being "too big to fail" and such) is just making things worse, and sometimes I fear things are going to get REALLY worse before they get better.