Sure, there's lots of things.

First of all, Americans are learning exactly how much they make and how much they can really afford, instead of using houses and HELOC's (second mortgages) as an ATM and ignoring basic economics, the hard lesson of Living Within Your Means is underway. It will take a generation or more to undo the lessons of the insanely leveraged buy now pay never years, but it will be learned.

It will be to drawing attention to wage stagnation of the last 10 years. Many Americans are starting to question if what's good for corporate America is really good for them. Corporate personhood is rightly being questioned.

It will also force the millions of folks who bought a house as an "investment" instead of a "place to live and grow old" to face reality. They bought under the deluded notion, pushed by folks with nothing to lose and everything to gain that home prices never fall so they could flip and move on. Now they will be likely to stay put, "underwater" and frozen in place and as a result, we might see something like communities forming, because people can't leave and they are forced to learn how to rely on neighbors.

Food insecurity and fear of it is going to lead more people to trying to grow some food. Most will fail, some will have limited success and others will learn the power of being able to raise up at least some of your food.

Barter is increasing, and barter is the most ancient and wonderful form of commerce there is.

Best of all, as we enter the next phase of this Recession, a hyper-inflationary mega-mess (we're not even half way to the real crisis), we're not going to be able to afford oil with our devalued dollars, so we're not going to have a choice about rebuilding what was once one of the greatest rail networks on the planet. We're not going to be able to avoid rolling out new energy sources and technologies - because we will HAVE to do it.

Best of all, there's enough people alive today who have the drive and the willingness to lead, if we can only shut up with our bickering over the petty issues of the here and now and start looking at America 2020.

I think that a friend of mine said it best:

The American Economy is, like Americans, obese and out of shape. Under the layers of middle management fat, there's still some powerful muscle, but shedding the fat is the first job before we can tone up again.

The fat-shedding is happening now. If it doesn't kill us (and there's plenty of folks who hope it does, leaving 6 countries where America once stood), it will make us stronger.

So, yeah, it sucks to tone up. The results will be worth it.