>I think that prayer, education and some sort of hugely painful national 'crisis' that causes people to (hopefully) rethink what's important. I am, however, not at all confident that we have enough of a reserve of proper thinking to overcome the unbridled selfishness I see on all levels of society. The whole notion of entitlements has to disappear I think, and so forth.

I suspect your "crisis" will make very little impact on where you think it should and will most likely hurt (even more) those that can least afford it; be carefull what you wish/pray for.

And even in a Communist state, there are at least 2 classes: the "party", and then, everybody else.