The Worst of the Pain

There is a great tendency in this country to refuse to see what is right in front of everybody’s eyes.

While there is now, finally, a great deal of talk among the politicians and in the news media about unemployment, there is still almost a willful refusal to focus on just who is suffering the most from joblessness and underemployment.

When it comes to employment, there are roughly three broad categories in the United States. The folks in the upper-income group are not suffering much, if at all, from the profound reversals in employment brought about by the Great Recession. Those in the middle have been hit hard. The job losses there have been severe and long-lasting. But for those in the lower-income groups, the scale of the employment crisis has been mind-boggling.

What you’re not hearing from the politicians and the talking heads is that the joblessness and underemployment in America’s low-income households rival their heights in the Great Depression of the 1930s — and in some instances are worse. The same holds true for some categories of blue-collar workers. Anyone who thinks this devastating problem is going away soon, or that the economy can be put back on track without addressing it, is deluded.

There has been talk about income inequality over the past several years, but what is happening now is catastrophic. The Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston divided American households into 10 groups based on annual household income. Then it analyzed labor conditions in each of the groups during the fourth quarter of 2009.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/opinion/09herbert.html?th&emc=th

My greatest concern about this recession is that desperation will set in and people will start turning to a life of crime. It is a hard thing to wake up in the morning and not be able to feed your babies. I am in no way condoning a potential turning to wrong but we are just asking for it. If we don’t get a handle on this declining economy we will develop criminal problems the likes we have never faced. Worst yet, the people who already have a felony conviction have absolutely nowhere to turn. Already having one strike against them (us) we are first to be rejected for the meager opportunities that are available. I’m a bit more mature so falling back is not an option for me but when I see the faces of the job seekers with no hope in their eyes it brings tears to mine. The Bible says: Without a vision, men perish. Why is it so difficult for our leaders to see catastrophe as bright as the morning sun? When did we become a nation that eats their own?