Peter Turchin explains the social-economic roots of UK and US crisis by violation of the existing social contract by rise of neoliberalism. This is pretty much what happened... but it's only half of the picture.
http://peterturchin.com/cliodynamica/the-structural-demographic-roots-of-the-uk-crisis/
In the UK this was symbolised by nationwide firefighters (!) strikes over salary rises where they actually were not putting down fires. One of the largest was 1977 fire in St Andrew's Hospital.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/14/newsid_3154000/3154632.stm
This event inspired Anthony Burgess to write "1985" novel. A situation like this - a strike of essential life-saving emergency services - is hard to imagine in any civilised country simply because it results in loss of life.
