Neither a borrower nor a lender be

An article (Europe Caught in Vise as Austerity Weakens Economy by Jack Ewing and Liz Alderman) in the New York Times begins with the following, rather remarkable, opening paragraph.

Citizens from Prague to Paris to Amsterdam have made it abundantly clear in the past few days that they are tired of the economic austerity forced on them by the euro zone debt crisis.

It would be easy to sound preachy and Franklinesque (Neither a borrower nor a lender be . . .) but that is not my intent. I am simply struck by the unstated sentiment that there is a choice involved in this issue. People are tired of the consequences of overspending and they wish to return to a more pleasant set of circumstances - but where are those circumstances to be found? No one knows. In the meantime, whether one is tired of economic austerity or not, it would appear that there is nothing else credible on the menu.