Wish I'd said that...

One very pithy metaphor-parsing that caught my eye in a post about unemployment.

Long-term unemployment is more a social than an economic problem. A rising tide may lift all boats, but you do have to have a boat. Otherwise, you will be in over your head before long. [Source]

 Just as the end of winter is when the worst of the starvation kill occurs for many wild animals, the exhaustion of both resources and compassion are, I believe, setting the scene for similar human misery.