Why the Panic?

Admittedly my degree in economics was earned in 1980 - but I don't think the underlying principles of macro and micro-economics have changed much in the past 20+ years! So why is everyone panicking because the unemployment rate "surged" to 5.5% this month? Say what? When I was in undergrad an unemployment rate of 5% represented FULL employment - with only the "dregs" left over -- those who didn't want to work and those who didn't have the requisite skills to hold even a minimum wage job. People didn't start panicking until the unemployment rate started hitting 9%. It's been awhile, but I seem to recall unemployment rates approaching 10% in the United States during some past recessions. What a bunch of wimps we've turned into. Oh, the unemployment rate is 5.5% - quick, jump from the windows! Oh, gasoline is $4 a gallon - quick, jump from the windows! Oh, the Dow Industrial Average dropped almost 400 points today - quick jump from the windows! I think the real problem is two-fold; one is the mainstream media. They don't want to report real news (too much effort), so they focus on routine economic data and the sensationalist story of the day, and blow things all out of proportion. The other problem is that Americans have gotten used to the sound-bite and, for whatever reasons, they don't read anymore or take the time to analyze just what IS being reported as "news." I don't think kids study history in school anymore, and so they don't know that we've been there and done all of this before - over and over again! Hell, this country survived the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, immigration of millions from Ireland, Germany, the Baltics, Eastern Europe, Italy, Puerto Rico, Japan, etc. etc. as well as the stagflation of the '70's, the Oil Crisis (the first one), the Crash of '87, and the election of Bill Clinton (no fooling, some people thought that would trigger the end of the world as we know it). We've also managed to survive eight years of George Bush and his chums. Yeah, we're battered and tattered; "pundits" (just who annointed them as demigods, anyway?) moan about how unprepared America is to compete in the new world economy. Other people worry about the hungry encroaching "Brown Hordes" in Mexico, Central America and South America. But we've been there and done that before, too. We'll survive. So suck it up, people, and quit whining. Geez! You don't like $4 a gallon gas - try living in France or Germany and paying twice as much! You want to save a little money - try taking public transportation and walking your fat butts a couple of miles to and from the store lugging 25 pounds of groceries every few days. That's guaranteed to take off pounds and get your aerobic system back in shape. People in the US are the most obese in the world. That really says something about us, doesn't it - and it's not good. You don't like what's happening in the country, our fearful leaders who care more about feeding their pensions and their fully-funded health care plan than taking care of their constituents, then get out and vote, and quit thinking that a turn-out of 50% in a presidential election is a remarkable achievement. Oh gag, darlings!