I went to my Parents house last weekend to help them with an estate sale, my grandmothers. My Aunts and Uncles were also there and in the course of conversation the topic of work came up as it always does and at present only three of us had anything to say, everyone else is either retired or unemployed. My uncle is the lead electrician in his G.M. plant and is toying with the idea of taking an early retirement and his wife is the receptionist for a Law firm in Flint and it seems that they are willing to keep her on as long as she is willing to stay. I work for E.D.S. and my site is closing down no later than December and shipping the jobs off to Mumbai India, Winchester Kentucky, Buttfuck Idaho, and other similar cost saving locations therefore my days are numbered. I am by no means alone in this as the IT industry is seeing a general gutting of the available jobs in this country and finding themselves no longer on the fast track but in the unemployment line.

I guess it is a good thing I didnt actually close the deal on the house I was looking at this summer, I would no doubt be selling it by spring҅if I could. Anyhow, during the talks about how work was going I mentioned that the days of seeing your children do better than their parents did are pretty much over. How can I or my brother ever hope to compete with my father who walked out of high school and into G.M.? Even college graduates are moving back in with their parents finding out that all of the time and money they spent learning how to be a perfect little cog for the American machine does not amount to anything when the machine is being built overseas now. One can only hope that the COE’s of the companies responsible for this exodus will see their positions being farmed out to cheaper and more efficient foreign workers as well. But dont hold your breath.

In the coming decade I think we can expect to see poverty in this country like we have not seen since the great depression, we can expect to experience first hand what living in a third world country is all about. Maybe documents like the Patriot Act have been put in place in anticipation of the coming realization by the people of America that we are on a rocket sled speeding us all straight to hell. All day long while I was helping my parents out there were military vehicles in a convoy passing the house and this went on from 11:00am to 4:00pm, how many vehicles I do not know, but I am guessing 150 to 200 at least. Saying this will no doubt brand me as one of those foaming at the mouth conspiracy theorists but all I could think about was urban pacification. How long until riots begin? How hungry does a normally complacent law abiding American have to get before he throws the first brick through a store window? Most of us may yet be a long way from impoverished in this country but make no mistake҅the trend is downward.

I do not know if there is any way out at this point but I for one will be curtailing my spending, especially when it comes to companies that are cutting American jobs. How funny is it that when I was maybe 16 my father told me that I needed to be looking into buying an American car so I could help save American jobs and my response was that none of the big three (Ford, G.M., or Chrysler) produced anything remotely in my meager price range. This was back when an American car was actually built in America with American components. Try buying a new car when the best you were able to do for a job was working 20 hours a week for minimum wage (back then it was $3.35 an hour) so they could avoid giving you benefits. Hell, try buying used. Anyhow, I have rambled on long enough about a subject that nobody really wants to hear about anymore since they are probably facing the same so let me say good luck to anyone in the same boat as me. We are going to need it.

What brought all of this on?

http://money.cnn.com/2003/05/01/news/economy/jobless_offshore/

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030713/ap_on_hi_te/tech_moves_offshore_2

Thanks Maureen!;P