btw

warning note for readers:  I am not happy with this, but I've not got time to change it now.........

Tomas and Tereza, in Milan Kundera's most popular book, certainly don't have an easy time.  It's no joke wondering if a causal conversation might be reported to the secret police.  It's not pleasant to lose the job one's education and talents prepared one for.

And, yet, they never worry about paying bills.  They never worry that they might run out of money before the end of the month.  They never worry that a doctor or dentist bill might be too high.

There are some other problems which they don't have:  They don't worry about whether they can pay back their student loans or their credit card debt.

Of course, the intricacies of their psychologies are fascinating.  But, at this point, I am reminded of two things a friend in Vienna once said to me:  First, he recognized that, as compared to other parts of the world, Vienna was a prosperous city, with many advantages.....And, secondly, when I commented on the number of young people visiting psychiatrists, he remarked that this was why Freud practiced there. The Viennese needed him. 

My point is that there may be a connection between the first and second things he said....

But, I do like reading about Tomas and Tereza too......

However, under capitalism, when you move from being, say, a lawyer (or having a law degree) to working as a janitor, the consequences (in addition to loss of self-respect and status, there may be a practical problem of paying for student loans)  seem to be much more devastating than the freedom that Tomas experienced when he had a job he could forget about once working hours ended.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/alleged-robber-with-bucky-badger-hat-needed-money-for-debt/article_90e71ea0-61ab-11e2-9390-001a4bcf887a.html

Apparently, some people think the story to which Ive just linked is a joke, or that the desperate man deserves scorn.
There is a deeper point here about our flawed economic system.

Consider the details: that the man was staying in a hotel, or that he had recently visited a museum.
From those facts, one can construct some guesses about the man's situation.  But, one thing I must say right off:  travelling the short distance from Madison, Wisconsin to Chicago, Illinois to visit a museum is not frivolous.  It is an attempt to maintain a life with a certain level of decency.  But, in the United States, even that is evidently too much to ask for.