The Sage Observer

Massive Unemployment

You know, folks, how prone we, as a people, are to forget. The crash of 2008, only five years ago, isn’t even cold yet. We still haven’t recovered. It’s not even “in the grave”. Our people are still very much in trouble. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, (the final report of the National Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States, a commission appointed by President Obama), dated January, 2011, reported then that twenty-one million people were out of work. We are now in 2013–three years later. Although the figure is not finite, there are still an estimated (if anyone has information to the contrary, I would appreciate hearing as to how many and the source) approximately twenty million people who remain either unemployed– looking for work, employed part-time, or have given up looking. This is one whale of a lot of people, folks. This is a picture of misery and hopelessness. Many (I don’t know how many, but too many) are living in cars, under bridges, on the streets, or in homeless shelters. They are either living on welfare, securing food from food banks, eating out of dumpsters and food kitchens, or whatever. We call them lazy loafers on the dole, looking for something for nothing.

When you look at the cars in the parking lots of the malls, you wouldn’t think such a condition exists, but it does. The reality of it all is that we have three nations in one in this country–one in misery, one enormously wealthy, and one in between, worrying when they will lose their jobs and how they will pay their bills. Guess what. Our illustrious Congress, most of whom are wealthy beyond our imagination are doing nothing about it–nothing–nada, that they are charged with the responsibilities of managing the affairs of our nation in Article I of our Constitution notwithstanding. Oops! I’m sorry. I forgot. They allowed cuts in the food stamp benefits of forty-seven million people on November 1.

What do I know? I only know what I see; and that is, they just don’t care. All they want is to get re-elected and keep their “goodies”, their future employment secured by the Shadow Government which they really serve. It is all too easy to forget the less fortunate when our belly is full. Our recession may be over; but our depression goes on.

Ronald Miller

mtss86@comcast.net