The Silent Terror Gripping America

It's the terror of losing one's job, which means losing one's paycheck, medical benefits and for some, their sense of purpose. Or it's being jobless and facing constant rejection as one's resume piles on to the resumes of many other despairing job seekers. It often leads to losing one's home and being overwhelmed by car payments, credit card bills and other debts. This is America today.

We see businesses closing, people being laid off and in some cases, unions being broken and working class people left to fend for themselves. Most people have little or no savings and live paycheck to paycheck. As for retirement accounts, those that have 401-k plans are watching the stock market wildly gyrate up and down risking their financial future. But for most people, Social Security and Medicare are what they will be counting on. Yet both of those vital programs are facing major cuts and are now comprised of government IOU's.

A friend of mine, a former executive, just turned 69 years old and has been out of work for two years. To the Dept. of Labor, he is not unemployed, he is "discouraged" and no longer counted because he has been out of work for over 99 weeks. His savings are gone. His and his wife's home, purchased about 3 years ago is worth much less than what they paid for it and for the first time in his life, he can't make the mortgage, property tax and insurance payments and is facing foreclosure. This will damage his credit score making it harder to rent an apartment. He like most of us pursued the American dream and played by society's rules. Now he is confronted by a nightmare, a nightmare faced by many millions of other Americans.

President Obama says the government's No. 1 task is creating jobs. But he is not specific on how and when it will do that. Yet the people of our nation desperately need work. It makes one wonder how the President and Congress can continue even one more day of wars and massive military spending when the need for financial resources and a helping hand is so great here.

Dick
Note: Thank you to Anne's and my friend Mary Ellen for strongly suggesting this subject to discuss on this blog.