So, for whatever reason, the people who gave us Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Monty Python, Peter Sellers, and Rowan Atkinson are really, really depressed. In fact, British workers are the most depressed in the world, and that includes salt miners in India!

British workers are the most likely to be diagnosed with depression in Europe, a survey has found.

The worrying extent of the illness in the UK was laid bare by the poll that revealed 26 per cent of Britons had received the diagnosis from their GP, compared with 12 per cent of Italians.

Those in the UK also took the most time off as a result of the illness, recording 41 days on average compared with the European mean of 36.

The study from the European Depression Association, also revealed than one in 10 working people in Europe have taken time off because of the debilitating psychological condition, which is equivalent to 21,000 lost working days. In 2010, depression was estimated to cost the EU £73billion.Despite the size of the problem, nearly one in three managers reported they had no formal support or resources to deal with employees who have depression, and 43 per cent called for better policies and legislation to protect employees. [emphasis emphasized]

Here’s one possible solution: import more Italians.

And Greece is experiencing an unemployment rate among its yutes that is just staggering: 55.4% in August, with Spain’s just behind it, at 52.9%. Spain has the worst total unemployment figure, at more than 25% — almost as many workers are unemployed in Spain as there are depressed people in the United Kingdom. Forget the Italians: If you gave the Spaniards the British jobs and gave the Brits a vacation in Spain …

Well, France has its own solution to the crisis in Europe: more abortions!

France on Monday unveiled a package of reforms designed to increase access to abortion, including 100 percent reimbursement of medical costs by the state social security system. …

At present French women are only able to claim back between 70 and 80 percent of the costs, which average between 200 and 450 euros depending on whether the abortion is induced by medication taken at home or carried out by surgical procedure in a clinic. …

The government also announced that it would increase the amounts clinics are allowed to charge for carrying out abortions to bring them closer into line with their real costs and to facilitate better support for patients.

Oh, good. I was worried that French abortion clinics were not bringing in enough cash. It’s like a thing with me, ever since … the accident. And there’s no reason why any woman should have to bear any of the costs for not bearing a child. That is so obviously the role of the state that to even discuss it in 2012 shows what a slow news day it is.

There is no social problem that progressives cannot solve by eliminating the most elementary social unit: the individual human being. They’re like geniuses. Or psychopaths. I have a hard time telling the difference, ever since … the accident.