> Or are they scared to engage the issue on a level that might have real
consequences -- that might actually address the problem directly rather
than pick at its scabs?
Surely not! After all, we're Americans. Oh, wait...
What he said wasn't "go quit your job". He gave a long set of questions designed to gauge just how much risk the person asking for advice (and all the other people reading the advice) could take, and then advocated going right up to the edge of that risk, without suggesting there wasn't risk involved. He also said explicitly this is a collective problem and, though he stopped short of saying "Don't bitch, organize", that would be the obvious next step.
If this were in daily papers throughout the country instead of Dear Abby, why, editors would be fired all over! Too scary! Let's get back to healthy topics, like nose picking.