The New York Times has a good story on how hard it is for people laid of from General Motors to go on with their lives.
He still has not decided whether to try to transfer to another G.M. plant, change occupations or return to school. Visiting the local United Automobile Workers hall recently, Mr. Corkhill stopped by a musty display case to show his 8-year-old son a black-and-white photograph inside — it was Mr. Corkhill’s grandfather carrying an artillery shell made at the plant during World War II.
“My grandfather worked here, and my father worked here,” he said. “The one thing my father told me is you work hard to make things better for the next generation, but now I worry we won’t be able to do that anymore.”
He turned his head to hide his tears from his son.
Here is the main point in the article.
“We found that 76 percent of the laid-off people we’ve worked with made $20 or more an hour,” said Robert T. Borremans, executive director of the Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board, which helps retrain and find jobs for laid-off workers. “There aren’t many $20-an-hour jobs in the area. If people need that much to maintain their lifestyle, they’ll need to look elsewhere.”
While on one hand we listen to the politicians telling us to spend for the good of the economy, we are confronted with the fact that if we lose our job, we may never be able to make enough to maintain our current life styles. What does the future economy look like if we all decide to downsize, live on cash, and start saving? If we keep our recently found frugal ways going, it could take a long time for the economy to recover but I am not sure if that is a bad thing either.
Jordan
I think these are crucial questions that few are asking even within the church