The unemployment statistics being reported today come as no surprise to most people. As a 55 plus male, educated with multiple degrees and formerly employed in the IT industry, I know what many of my contemporaries understand.
Nearly, 7 out of 10 people in the 50 plus age demographic have been downsized, layed-off or forced into early retirement. Further, corporate downsizing and outsourcing has been going on, in earnest, for the past 15 years during both up and down markets. Armed with incentives for globalization, tax cuts and technological advances, domestic corporations have been operating with virtual immunity. Rather than providing work and business taxes to the communities that give them permission to do business, corporate oligarchies have become the norm.
People in the primes of their careers, typically at the top of the wage scale and before retirement benefits kick in, are typically cut first. Sadly the insatiable corporate vampire no longer sleeps during the day, and younger workers in their mid 20’s to early 40’s are also being targeted. If people are rehired at all, it is often at an unsustainable wage, despite education and experience. We are in the midst of all out re-definition of the middle class and an assault on the American Dream.
The unhealthy relationship of corporate interests and our elected officials has reached epic proportions. However, it appears that our citizenry has yet to fully respond with activist reactions. Clearly, party-line divide and conquer strategies are at work. It will be interesting see how long the Democratic party believes it can sustain interest in a symbolic, but ineffective, leadership that does not respond to the real needs of the country.
As such, this is a worthwhile read: www.thenation.com/blog/161863/unemployment-spikes-obamas-got-bigger-problem-debt-ceiling