Uncharted Territory

Time and the economy have pushed us into uncharted territory. According to this past Sunday's edition of 60 Minutes, over 16 million children are living in poverty in the United States, a quantity not seen since the very early 1960s. Families are living in cars, trailers, makeshift shelters in unprecedented numbers. There have never been this many unemployed for this long in our history. Families are forced to face their worst nightmares on a daily basis. I know-- I am one of the affected.

While I speak to many friends whose lives and lifestyles have barely been touched by the economy of the past couple of years, there are countless others who have felt the hardships. Children being yanked from schools because their parents can no longer afford their homes. Depression setting in. Bankruptcies, foreclosures, unplanned family moves, lay-offs, endless unemployment. Nuclear families are growing to include two and three generations under one roof. Urban Nomads are becoming much more commonplace, as people fight for survival and move to more fertile ground. Fertile for employment and a place for their kids to learn. Safe, secure. The US was once known as the country of opportunity. It is now a place for simple survival.

Have no doubt: we are swimming in uncharted territory and if we do not make course corrections very soon, we will drown. If our children continue to study without a global perspective, we will continue to spiral downward with no cultural compass. If we do not begin to re-build the infrastructure of our cities, and by doing so, employ masses of those currently unemployed, we will crumble. If we do not begin to harness the energy of our people, cultivate our resources, there will be no harvests to reap.

BUT there is good news: we have not yet drowned. We ARE able to swim. We ARE capable. There is still time to write the course and right the chart. Look around you. Stand up for what you believe. Do not take no for an answer. This is the moment when everyone needs to be counted.

Spend time in your children's schools. Write letters to your local politicians and make your voice be known. Spend time in a Food Bank. Give back and be a helping hand because only together can we re-build. Please.

Kudos to Ford

Finally, jobs are coming back to the US by a major company!  Woo-hoo!  Just this morning, Ford announced it was bringing back manufacturing of many parts for its new electric vehicles to Michigan. For years, it has been getting these parts from suppliers in Japan and Mexico. This news made this Urban Nomad, who watched as 200 jobs from her previous company went to Mexico,  very happy. Over two hundred new jobs back to the heart of car-land USA. It's a start. Green, clean and lean.


Not so much the news that for every job opening, there are five unemployed workers, according to former Secretary and Professor Robert Reich.  Or his conclusion that the reason our GDP increased over the last quarter was due to the trend of families  spending their savings to live. (see www.robertreich.org)


My husband and I seem to now fit into what he calls the "anxious" class. We, along with many others,  are watching our dwindling "retirement" funds each time we need to purchase something new.  Drawing down savings to live is not what I would call an indication of a healthy economy. A society on an upswing. On the road to recovery. What's going to happen when all of our middle class savings are depleted?


Kudos goes to Ford for finding factories that are sitting in limbo and for bringing work back to this country. That's an indication of a plan well executed at a critical time. What will lesson the "anxiety" for all of us will not be when the government tells us that the economy is doing better, but when we find jobs for those seeking them, wage increases for those who have been working extra hours at the same compensation and factories once again opening doors. 


We should support companies like Ford and urge others to take similar steps to put Americans back to work and America back in business.