A lot of people have talked this week about violent political rhetoric bringing the U.S. to a fever pitch, but there's something else keeping people on edge too:  that's economic catastrophe.

As reporters spread out to talk to accused shooter Jared Loughner's friends and neighbors, a picture has begun to emerge of a reality that rarely makes the front page. The Washington Post notes that fallout from the recession is visible on Loughner's own block, where jobs have disappeared and the construction bubble's burst. The New York Times describes the withdrawal of Loughner's dad, who, they write, was "once more of a presence... as he went off to work as a carpet-layer and pool-deck installer."

The latest jobs report reminds us that one person's recovery is another's hollowed-out American Dream. Just about the only people finding work are the recently unemployed.  The ranks of the long-term unemployed are still rising and so too, the ranks of the discouraged [up 389,000 in December over the same month a year ago.] Especially for people in their fifties or early sixties, there's no hope of ever finding a job again, let alone one that pays close to what they were making.

This isn't bad for everyone, notes the Wall Street Journal. They quote Rick Hayduk, managing director of a resort, who calls it an “employer's market,” noting the toll the recession has taken on people's hopes. "We have been able to reevaluate some of our starting wages," he said.

When the option is working at a reduced wage, working at Starbucks, or giving up, many will accept the cut, it's true. Workers are being squeezed from all angles, with union-busting governors, wage-slashing employers, and a tax-hiking Congress combining to put the pressure on.

And the tax deal squeezed through Congress holds another bombshell for low wage workers: the Center for Economic & Policy Research notes that 51 million of them may see their taxes rise. Is it any wonder that our political climate is so combustible?

In part thanks to all those interviews with friends, Jared Loughner's now being described as a nihilist. No doubt we're in for loads of discussion next about the destructive effects of "believing in nothing." But believing in nothing is one thing. What we really need to start talking about in this country are the destructive effects of having nothing.