Published in the New York Times February 27, 2010
I couldn't have said it better myself:
Re “Despite Signs of Recovery, Chronic Joblessness Rises” (“The New Poor” series, front page, Feb. 21):
You write, “Call them the new poor.” That might just be me. I’ve worked all my life for companies with management that wouldn’t know loyalty if it bit them.
Layoffs, new jobs and career changes have been the American way for decades. So, this long period of joblessness should be no surprise — but the “let them eat cake” attitude coming from government is.
You quote Allen Sinai, the chief global economist at the research firm Decision Economics, as saying: “American business is about maximizing shareholder value. You basically don’t want workers. You hire less, and you try to find capital equipment to replace them.”
If that’s how business defines profits, then we desperately need to redefine our priorities and our business laws. Deregulation has made us a lawless society again. It seems as if we have rebuilt a new robber-baron class that feeds on an ever-growing population of poor people. If this is the New American Dream, would someone please wake me up?
John Thomas Ellis
Kentfield, Calif., Feb. 24, 2010
To the Editor:
In a workshop for the recently unemployed and long-term unemployed, the first question asked by the instructor was “Why do we work?” The responses were obvious: income, benefits, self-esteem, satisfaction and planning for the future. The response the instructor wanted to convey was not as obvious. The instructor explained that “work is something to do — work is a place to go each day.”
In addition to the devastating loss of income and benefits, the recession has created a different kind of loss, loss that does not have a monetary value. The unemployed have lost a sense of place, a sense of belonging and a sense of permanence.
Such loss has been replaced by not having clear purpose and direction, by not having social interaction with people and by not knowing what the weeks, months and years ahead will bring.
While the economic recovery may be a sign of progress, it will come with enduring memories of great hardship.
Harold Langus
Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Feb. 22, 2010
To the Editor:
In the 1960s, it was predicted that automation would radically change the job market, and it was suggested by some that we plan then to shift more to service jobs as well as prepare for increased leisure hours, to ease the inevitable socioeconomic transition.
Instead, the hours of today’s working class have greatly increased, and salaries have not kept pace.
The wealthy, however, a class that has greatly increased in both size and assets, enjoy the benefits of automation and of having funds for entertainment and for hiring help to free even more of their time.
Given these realities, it seems unrealistic to look only at financing more jobs. We must be honest about the situation, and we must address the increase in service-sector jobs with appropriate training and the corresponding need for increased pay for those jobs from those most able to afford it.
Failure to address this imbalance is leading us toward a modern form of serfdom.
Diana Morley
Talent, Ore., Feb. 21, 2010
To the Editor:
The well-reported article about the economic effects of unemployment did not spend enough time on one of the real problems that people face today, whether holding a job or living on a fixed income, as Jean Eisen is doing with her husband. With approximately $19,000 a year from her husband’s disability, Ms. Eisen said she feared becoming homeless.
How is it that in much of America a decent apartment can’t be found for less than $1,000? Maybe what Ms. Eisen and millions of others need in addition to a job is more affordable housing.
Douglas Robinson
Sterling, Va., Feb. 22, 2010
