The Highly Educated Homeless

[marmar]

from Bodhi Thunder, via AlterNet:




In some respects, this depression is worse than the Great Depression.

There is no holiday on making mortgage payments, there are no public works jobs to keep people working, and there is little hope.

In fact, if you watch the 60 minutes video below you will see a large crowd of permanently unemployed in Silicon Valley, California. Nearly every one of them has a college degree. Also there are many with Ph.Ds and masters degrees.

These people thought they were doing everything right. They got their educations, they worked hard, and they saved for retirement. They are people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s that now have little chance of getting a decent job. They are happy with getting any job, even part time jobs.

Their unemployment benefits are gone and they are losing their homes.

They are part of a so called ‘recovery’ but that recovery is moving them right on to the streets.

SEE VIDEO HERE



http://blogs.alternet.org/grantlawrence/2010/10/25/the-highly-educated-homeless/

[JanMichael]

1. kick

[mstinamotorcity]

2. This is sad

And if they don't take those educations and vote with their intelligence they will be more sorry than what they are if the repugs get back in charge of congress. This Administration won't be able to get anything done because they are hell bent on destroying our President than they are working together to fix this economy.

[prolesunited]

3. I am one of them

though I am hoping to save my house by draining my retirement savings. Hopefully, I'll just die before it gets really bad. And, with multiple pre-existing conditions and no health insurance, that's a possibility since I don't have any help until 2014.

I think what's hardest is the emotional toll it takes on all of us in this age group. You've done everything asked and required. I was the first in my family to go to college. I never amassed any big debts, except for the house, which is quite modest and well below my means. I worked an extra job to raise my son and saved for retirement. I've never had a bad job performance review in my life. And in the course of five years, I've lost two good-paying jobs and can't get anything to come together since. In jobs where I've even had a "chance," recruiters say I'm competing with 75 to 100 applicants.

Rationally, I know it's a numbers game. Millions are in the same position. My degree and experience is in the wrong field. But, in your gut, when you're alone at night, all you can think is "I'm a colossal failure." People say, "Don't take it personally." But when your life is disintegrating around you, how much more personal can it get?

I'm probably better off than most and will probably manage to cobble together some poverty-level "career" to keep me going, but I feel so very betrayed in my pursuit of the American Dream. I wasn't even hoping for that much.

USA! USA! USA!

[shireen]

11. +1

:hug:

I really hope this bad situation changes for you and others in your situation. I'm in that "older" age group, with a chronic illness, and so far, I have been damned lucky to have a job, good health insurance, and understanding employers. It's something I wish for everyone. I hope the people at my workplace realize how lucky they are. If it weren't for DU and meeting people like you here, I'd be living in a little delusional bubble.

Hang in there ....

[bobbolink]

12. So am I, but look at the lack of caring right here on DU. This is nothing new.

for many years now, since this all started in the 80s, people with degrees who "did all the right things" have ended up homeless.

But, it doesn't matter to either party. It just doesn't rate the attention it deserves.

Sorry you are part of the club,..... I hope it doesn't get worse for you, because down where I am is truly hell.

:hug:

[ishaneferguson]

13. So am I

One p/t job in Silicon Valley, another p/t job in the Pittsburgh area. Together they make up about 40% of one full time job --- paid on "1099"s -- no bennies.

I have old undergrad and MS in ChemE, and got a mid-career MS (night school) in CS.

Living costs are low -- in Pittsburgh I live in the house in Greenfield that I inherited from my grandparents, no mortgage -- in Silicon Valley I sold my old house (at a loss) and stay with my kids and grandkids in Mountain View.

About one week a month in Silicon Valley -- the rest of the time in Pittsburgh.

There's just enough "new" application software (recently written by "youngsters") running on OLD systems software and even older boxes to keep me busy enough.

I had planned to let my pensions, 401(k), and Social Security sit until I turned 72 (and could maximize the return) but things did not turn out that way.

I am in much better shape then a lot of my contemporaries.

[ishaneferguson]

14. So am I

One p/t job in Silicon Valley, another p/t job in the Pittsburgh area. Together they make up about 40% of one full time job --- paid on "1099"s -- no bennies.

I have old undergrad and MS in ChemE degrees, and got a mid-career MS (night school) in CS.

Living costs are low -- in Pittsburgh I live in the house in Greenfield that I inherited from my grandparents, no mortgage -- in Silicon Valley I sold my old house (at a loss) and stay with my kids and grandkids in Mountain View.

About one week a month in Silicon Valley -- the rest of the time in Pittsburgh.

There's just enough "new" application software (recently written by "youngsters") running on OLD systems software and even older boxes to keep me busy enough.

I had planned to let my pensions, 401(k), and Social Security sit until I turned 72 (and could maximize the return) but things did not turn out that way.

I am in much better shape then a lot of my contemporaries.

[laughingliberal]

26. Me too.

Not homeless, yet, but close. People have no idea how fast this can happen.

[CrispyQ]

50. "People have no idea how fast this can happen."

That is part of the heartlessness of America. Americans never think it will happen to them, therefore, anyone it does happen to is a loser & deserves it. How do we combat this way of thinking? Wait until it happens to them? If we do that, nothing will change until 80% of the people are out on the streets & then the desperation will be so thick, the fear so strong, we will have a whole other set of problems to deal with.

I don't know how to make people feel compassion for others who are in situations one can not begin to imagine.

The best to you in these difficult times. I hope you can hang on. :hug:

[EFerrari]

27. Yep. Welcome to my world.

Except, I won't be able to save my condo. It will go.

[tavalon]

46. Oh, dear, I thought you were doing okay

I'm so sorry for you and for everyone talking on this thread.

I count myself lucky for now as I'm a unionized nurse but I'm watching friends and family stumble right and left and through no fault of their own. Wall Street and Washington can talk about recovery all they want. It isn't happening.

[EFerrari]

73. Between us, my mom, my brother and I held four properties.

The equity disappeared over night and there's no way to refinance any more. The condo has to go, my brother's house, gone, and we're trying to save two. It's not looking very good at the moment. And millions of people are in the same spot. Mom is semi-retired on a fixed income and both my brother and I have to re-invent a job. What recovery.

[Odin2005]

44. !!!!!!!

:hug:

[marmar]

47. .........

:grouphug:

[Edweird]

4. Inb4 "he's the president and not a king" or some such apologia.

[treestar]

6. So he is a King?

He should have just ordered jobs to be created and poof! they would be.

This article is bull anyway. Unemployment is no higher than it was for professional people.

[Edweird]

10. He's a Dem president, with a Dem congress, that's advocating RW policy.

Which, BTW, is DIRECTLY related to why there's a chance of a republican resurgence. Fake republicans vs real republicans and all that.

[de novo]

15. He could order jobs, with New Deal like worker programs.

The federal government could directly employ millions it they wanted to.

[Edweird]

17. Obama may end up a single term president while FDR was essentially president for life.

[de novo]

18. It is all about the jobs.

It matters very little what other successes he may achieve. Unemployment is ultimately why the Dems are going to take a hit this fall. Had they turned it around and put Americans to work, if that had been the priority, they would have been rewarded with more gains. Not only that, if Americans were working, they could have passed virtually any other progressive legislation they wanted with little push back from the public.

If Obama doesn't put the unemployed to work, he will be a one term president. He had to get the unemployment rate below 7-8% in the next year and a half or he will be out of a job.

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. Jobs are very important, yes, but so are social assistance programs. Not everyone can work so

more jobs won't help them unless the government uses those extra taxes to help fund safety nets.

[de novo]

22. Oh, I agree 100%.

I was talking purely about the politics. To win a re-election, the jobs have to be there. Good policy, though, would include strengthening of our social safety nets, as well as creation of more.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. You are right about the politics of re-election, no doubt about it.

[bobbolink]

34. Thank you for remembering us. I get so tired of being tossed under the bus.

:yourock:

[GreenPartyVoter]

37. "Jobs are not enough" is my new mission. *hugs*

[bobbolink]

38. I appreciate that more than you iknow!

Being alone and isolated with all of this wears a person down... badly.

Thank you so very much. Really, it does mean more than you know! :hug:

[closeupready]

53. Yep. No question about it.

n/t

[Name removed]

59. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[defendandprotect]

40. We need some liberal/progressive Dems to begin stepping up for 2012.....

and we need a president who will PROTECT safety nets and not try to destroy

them for the benefit of elites --

Corporations should be footing the bill for all of these unemployed --

but it is the taxpayer having to pick up the tab!!

If corporations had to pay for all the damage they do -- they'd be out of business pretty

damn quickly!!!

Capitalism is suicidal -- it's based on exploitation of nature and human beings --

We need a Democratic president who will as fearlessly as FDR address this corporate fascism!!

[EFerrari]

42. I don't believe an election will fix this. The corruption runs much too deep.

[defendandprotect]

43. Certainly, I agree --

and ever so much more when the real threat of Global Warming is understood --

Right wing has to keep control of political power to hide all of the issues they've

buried to keep capitalism/corporatism going --

They've been dismantling this thing since NEW DEAL -- and before that trying to take

total control by rearming Germany and supporting Hitler.

They bought Nixon -- they buy everything -- GOP gave start up funding for Christian

Coalition -- Richard Scaife funded Dobson's org -- other wealthy GOP funded Bauer's org.

And so much more is as equally similarly "Wiz of Oz" stuff based on $$.

When that's not enough - then it's stole elections!

Not enough issues still in their way -- but they're important ones -- what's left of

the Safety nets -- Social Security and Medicare and Welfare ... though no longer

"guarantees" thanks to Clinton!

Nonetheless, we still have to keep pushing to the left --

Many people are working on various ways to do it --

Personally, I think we need to have a rising up of LABOR/WOMEN/UNIONS --

The unemployed -- as you can see another post here based on a 60 minutes report -- are

still being badgered to "find a job." That's a scam in itself. If there were actually

jobs, these people would find them! Emphasis has to shift to CREATING JOBS ... AND

OVERTURNING THE TRADE AGREEMENTS. And, to the political uniting of unemployed and homeless.

IMO, Obama is on the wrong side of most issues ... seemingly intentionally given his support

for privatizing the schools, and his back room deals with Big Pharma and Health Care Industry

which pulled the rug out from under single-payer and government run health care.

Undoubtedly, Obama understood what he was doing and trampled the public's cry for universal

health care!

Unfortunately, we're once again doing the "hold your nose and vote for Dems vote" -- but

I think we should keep trying for a new candidate for 2012 --

This post is also dangling on what's actually going to happen Tuesday -- who knows?

But as far as I can see, the public has been trying to move government to the left from at

least 2000 and 2004 and 2006 and 2008. Are they going to give up now because the T-baggers

are threatening more fascism?

America has to become way more political -- not until we have neighbor talking to neighbor on

this -- and politics as a more important issue than golf or football will we get anywhere!




...... IMO! :evilgrin:

[glowing]

55. I think he would sign single payer legislation if congress sent him a bill

Down ticket spots are so important. Pay attention to school boards and council people and judges and all sorts of people who head to the top... They r bought off normally well before election to the house or senate. And the senate is a nightmare. Who is the youngest members? Listen to them when they discuss DOMA and DADT. Shoot obama was all about single payer and marriage equality when he was a state senator.

We need to work on finding the right people to represent us... Or protest in some way that hurts them..

[defendandprotect]

62. No way Congress could have done that when Baucus Committee took single-payer off

the table ...

Think there were something like 55 Democrats pushing for single payer --

but not Pelosi who is holding the reins and presumably serving the White House.

In other words, the TWO most heavily financed Dems by health care industry --

Obama and Baucus -- controlled what was going to happen and they sunk single-payer.

PLUS .... you do know that Obama made private deals with BOTH Big Pharma and the

Health Care Industry? One to ensure no big losses for Big Pharma on negotiation deals --

and the other with Health Care Industry to keep PRIVATIZED HEALTH CARE?


When we do "find" the right people to represent us, TPB make sure they get knocked out

in polls, smears, primaries -- and computer steals.


Look at the energy of the unemployed -- 25 million when long term unemployed are included --

all of the energy going into "finding" a job which is nonsense. THAT energy should be going

into uniting themselves state by state -- in fact, liberal organization -- Democrats -- should

be working to help them do that!

It's the DEMAND FOR JOBS and the CREATION OF JOBS that we need to pay attention to --

when that happens, believe me -- people can then "find" jobs!!



:)

[chervilant]

56. So true...

Those among us who are living in abject fear (Republicans, Conservatives, the Right Wing, DINOs, Blue Dogs, Corporatists, teh Stoopid...whatever you choose to call these pathetic beings) cannot tolerate the cognitive dissonance that threatens furtively out of the dark corners of narrow minds. "Push it away!" these fearful minds bellow, "Don't look at the truth!"

This abject fear drives the anti-intellectualism discussed so brilliantly by Richard Hofstadter...

I've posted herein before that our nation has been failing miserably on most measures pertaining to our children. We don't protect our children from relationship violence. We don't help our children habituate exercise and good eating habits. We don't acknowledge that our corporate hedonism has poisoned the very air that our children breathe, or the water they must drink. And we certainly don't insure that our children get the education they need to compete in a global economy. In fact, the education reform movement du jour is yet another selfish agenda promulgated by people who don't have a clue about children OR education!

NOW is the time to acknowledge that we are not just failing our children, fellow activists, we are failing ourselves! Globally, we humans are failing miserably as a species! More and more of us are resorting to 'react' mode, letting our inchoate fears and frustrations manifest as road rage, name-calling, sarcasm, and myriad other forms of mental, emotional and physical violence.

When are we going to face this truth?!? When are we going to take a good, long look in the mirror, and pledge to do whatever it takes to step off this path of self-destruction?!?

Sad, really, watching the exponential decline of our species...

[defendandprotect]

63. FDR: "You have nothing to fear but fear itself!" ---

There is something in that --

We can't be so fearful that we become immobilized -- or too frightened to move.

As for children -- we all recognize that the opppression of women impacts children --

Patriarchy, organized patriarchal religion, and their system of capitalism set the agenda

in America -- all three of these systems are violent and suicidal.

All of it is based in exploitation of nature and human beings.

American people have been being taught to live in fear -- and in fear of one another since

the 1970's -- TV being the prime teacher -- but also the national mags of the time.

Drug War was usued primarily for that purpose -- expanded now, of course.


Well, my sadness is based on the destruction of nature --

"Survival of the fittest" is really about that species which best cooperates with nature --

NOT about the most violent as some interpret it.

If humans are unable to control the few violent among us and to permit them free reign to

destroy nature, then they will take us all with them!



Patriarchy and its underpinning =

Organized patriarchal religion -- and its economic system =

Capitalism =

The Unholy Trinity

[chervilant]

68. Well, well, well

good to see someone else pointing out the inherently destructive nature of patriarchy--indeed, ANY social system that promotes hierarchy.

[defendandprotect]

69. I'm with you ....

and now that I've noticed your user name, will be looking for your comments!


:pals:

[chervilant]

78. Oh,

thank you so much for your kind and supportive post. I just got off the 'phone' with my best friend from New Zealand. We were discussing intellect and how humans are trained not to acknowledge our own intellects, especially when we test off the charts on the standardized IQ tests.

My friend is in her 70s and is one of the most brilliant women I've been blessed to know, yet she grew up thinking she was 'dumb'! Now, she can only surmise that she heard that message from adult significant others in her childhood, since she didn't know she had a 'high IQ' until she was tested in her late thirties (and, she didn't embrace her high IQ after that, even when faced with clear evidence!).

We adults are likely to have heard messages, especially in our childhoods, that adjure us not to be 'prideful' about out mental abilities. As a newly trained secondary school teacher, I think this is an ubiquitous form of anti-intellectualism. Whether it's the corporate megalomaniacs who want an undereducated workforce (how else to keep us happy as service workers or factory fodder?), or uber conservative parents who teach their children that faith and 'intelligent design' trump any formal education they might receive, or parents who just can't appreciate that our children are hard-wired to be curious and enthusiastic learners; the vast majority of our children come out of our system of public education convinced that they have an 'average' or 'below average' intellect! How absurd!

Since I see this inflicted on our children in so many ways, I am 'bound and determined' (as my mother used to say) to become a math teacher so that I can have a wee bit of an impact on younger students. I help my students understand that we all learn in different ways and at different speeds, and our job as a team is to explore all the ways we learn math, AND to have each other's backs as we play math together. Boy, do we have fun with math!

I make sure that my students know that contemporary research about IQ tests has shown that, when you take away the temporal element of the test, almost all the study participants score "near genius" level. When students hear this, it makes a profound difference in how they perceive their mental abilities. Then, when you model respect for children, and encourage them to evince self respect, you get a roomful of young people who will help each other succeed AND celebrate each other's successes. It's a most profound experience!

I know I'm not alone in this awareness, nor am I the only educator who pursues this subversive path to educating our children. I also recognize that the internet has given us a venue within which we can reveal our intellects, and appreciate our own and other's agile minds. It is because I see that the majority of us are creative, witty, funny, and supportive of one another that I remain hopeful.

Thank you for reminding me of why I am hopeful. :)

[defendandprotect]

79. and .....

note you're another caring teacher! Wow --

Thanks for your thoughts -- I'll PM later -- just to get out of the way of this thread.

:)

[Raksha]

71. Thank you!!! The Unholy Trinity is right, and it can't be be pointed out too often.

Patriarchy and its underpinning =

Organized patriarchal religion -- and its economic system =

Capitalism =

The Unholy Trinity

[chervilant]

58. POTUS

not a job I would want to take on...

I'm beginning to suspect that whoever was elected on that fateful day Mr. Obama became our President would have become a lightning rod for controversy and criticism. We have a defining set of expectations about our 'world leader,' grounded in decades of past presidencies, and the very inception of this nation. Spice that up with the epic fail that was the Bush administration, and most of us have waited with bated breath to see how the new guy would measure up to our high expectations. We're still waiting...

That being said, we tend to forget that we're living in exponential times, and that our technology allows us to witness, discuss, dissect and judge every event as it is happening. We the People sometimes cannot see our forest for the trees...

Finally, we humans are facing a catastophic shift in our global economy, with all the repercussions we MUST anticipate in every aspect of our lives. We know it's here, despite the fact so many of us are still in denial. Many of us who've long recognized this inevitability fervently hoped for a leader who would think outside the box, and innovate. We haven't seen that in Obama. So, some of us whinge...

I want Mr. Obama to experience Thaddeus Russell. Maybe that will motivate him to wade into uncharted territory, and be the change we STILL hope to see. A girl can hope...

[OneGrassRoot]

5. K&R :( n/t

[etherealtruth]

7. I realize personal experience is anecdotal ....

.... but, as a woman in her late 40s I (sadly)know several people that are highly educated, in their 40s and 50s and can't find professional employment. Though they are not homeless they have depleted their savings and are at risk.

As a professional in her 40s, living in the Detroit Metro area I know we are all just a few steps from homelessness.

This is sick and sad.

[defendandprotect]

41. As long as our government supports predatory capitalism, this will be true....

everything is connected -- we're all one rain drop from being "Katina'ed" --

and one paycheck away from disaster --

Obama is showing too little interest and concern for all of these dire issues --

which suggest to me that he's willing to let them all become even more serious!

[handmade34]

8. rec

should be seen by everyone that hasn't been there...

[Odin2005]

9. This needs to be shoved into the face of any RWer that spews the...

..."Capitalism = Meritocracy" BS.

[TheKentuckian]

16. Recovery my ass. We still don't know what bottom is.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

19. Kick

And sadly recommended. There is much that is being swept under the MSM's rug.

[progressoid]

20. a sad and reluctant rec.

[Starry Messenger]

24. recommend.

[laughingliberal]

25. K & R for visibility. n/m

[mudplanet]

28. Well, in some ways it is worse, but in the most significant way it isn't - hunger

Probably 30% of the residents in my county receive assistance in the form of food stamps (EBT card nowadays). If it wasn't for the incredibly successful food stamp program, the US would look a lot more like the pictures we used to see of the Great Depression, with long lines of desperate people waiting to apply for a job or a bowl of soup (which is why conservatives are against food stamps -they like people being so desperate they'll do anything to anyone for a paycheck. Check out The Grapes of Wrath).

This coming year may see a significant increase in homelessness as the unemployment runs out and the no jobs situation continues. I don't see any significant improvement in the economy for at least six years. It may require the conservatives coming back into power and abusing the American people so badly that even a billion dollars in campaign ads can't cover up their crimes before things even START to improve.

Remember, the Great Depression went on for nearly 10 years. The Democrats had to fight bitterly during that entire time to address the problems and faced significant setbacks on a number of occasions (e.g., jobs programs being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court).

[Panaconda]

29. K&R n/t

[Quantess]

30. The mummified corpse in LA, that had been in a car for months,

was a homeless woman with 2 masters degrees. A former special educator.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mummy-20101028,0,5871551.story

Hey, it's still Halloween!

[leftstreet]

31. K&R

[political_Dem]

32. Heartbreaking. There is so much damage from the Bush years, it is appalling.

I will keep these folks in my thoughts and hope that they receive some much needed relief.

[bobbolink]

33. sigh..... assigning this all to * is one of the ways it continues.

[midnight]

35. Anyone have any update on Elizabeth Warren's work she is doing?

[defendandprotect]

36. Think they're hoping for a recovery based on telling people there's a recovery ... !!!

Kinda like "the Gulf will bounce back!" --

and "heckava job Summers!" --

As long as we have these huge numbers of people unemployed it's a great threat

to all of us -- and to have homeless from Reagan area is outrageous -- and so

few address it!!

Undoubtedly, this has been a depression -- Obama himself used that word about two

months ago in a Yahoo article that was quickly scrubbed!

[defendandprotect]

39. Putting emphasis on "finding" a job is a scam..... Obama needs to CREATE jobs ....

THEN PEOPLE WILL FIND THEM --- !!!

[ck4829]

49. And even *if* there were jobs available, the educated face another problem

And that is that they are "overqualified" and will leave the job as soon as they find something better.

Need to say "So what?"

The business has an employee
And the employee has a roof over their head

It's like they think that being "overqualified" means you don't need to eat anymore or something.

[fasttense]

57. I talked to a couple who had recently been unemployed and

who now have a sales clerk job and a hospital files clerk job.

They told us how to dumb down our resumes. If you are applying for a service industry job never put a degree, especially an advanced degree, on your resume. If you are a woman, act as if you are just returning to work to make money for Christmas or to make some pocket change. In rural areas, put down that you are coming off your farm after the growing season.

Otherwise you will continue to hear the word "overqualified".

[Greyhound]

45. K&R for truth.

[ck4829]

48. Always money available for war, but never any for the poor. K&R.

[ipaint]

51. That's our household.

54 and 57 years of age. Lifelong blue collar workers, can't find even minimum wage jobs.

On food stamps with 1 months rent left. Ironically I could never afford a house so I didn't buy one, I don't have credit cards or debt but still my life has been destroyed.

We do have a paid for truck which I am now researching how to live homeless in.

Going to apply for a temp (1 month) bell ringer job at the salvation army today. Ugh.

When this reaches critical mass as a result of doing nothing for the long term unemployed, 10 kumbaya can't we all just get along rallies like yesterdays won't diffuse the anger. In fact when they raise the age for social security that should really fuel the rage.

For supposedly smart people our rulers sure are stupid.

[ipaint]

54. kick nt.

[bobbolink]

61. I'm sorry. You don't deserve that. But, then, neither do I, or the thousands like me.

I wish I had something useful to say.

I'm just enraged by all of this. I wish those of us who are in this situation and are angry could all come together on it.

:hug:

[ipaint]

65. Thanks bobbolink, no one deserves it.

Unfortunately I've found that to be a minority view, on and offline.

:pals:

[bobbolink]

67. Yes, it definitely is the minority view. Living in your vehicle is a tough life, but the hardest

part of it is the hard hearts you encounter.

I really am sorry, and wish there was something more I could say than those two stupid words.

Please don't disappear.....I am concerned, and will have you in my thoughts.

:hug:

[snot]

52. And let's not forget

(in addition to the near-total lack of accountability for dollars spent in the wars) that the AIG and other bank assistance were structured to permit big bonuses to those who caused the crisis; and Dems are talking about extending the tax cuts for the rich.

[chervilant]

60. Once more for good measure:

I am 54 years old. I read Rachel Carson's Silent Spring when I was 12 years old. When I finished her iconic treatise, I made two fundamental decisions: 1) I would not bear children, and 2) I would be an activist for the rest of my life. I am so glad that I achieved both those goals, especially considering where humanity finds itself at present...

During my brief tenure on this planet, I've witnessed:

--the heavy metal pollution of this planet's groundwater

--the nationwide existence of 'Superfund Sites' that are so toxic, massive amounts of our tax dollars have been allocated to 'clean up' these abandoned, hazardous areas (visit Superfund websites and you'll find "Superfund for Kids!")

--an exponential increase in diabetes, heart disease, and other diseases directly linked to the consumption of refined sugars (let's not even BEGIN to discuss hydrogenated oils...)

--the 'War on Drugs' (an ironic ploy that benefits the uber wealthy in two primary ways: more money, more money, more money; and keeping the hoi polloi distracted and addicted)

--a pile of floating garbage--in surface area, the size of the state of Texas--in the doldrums of the Pacific Ocean

--a measurable decline in the amount of food fish we pull out of our oceans and lakes

--the steady decline of the honeybee population worldwide (called "Colony Collapse Disorder" by the scientists who are 'struggling' to identify the causes)

--a growing percentage of adults (as of the 90s, this figure was forty percent) who are functionally illiterate (thus, easily manipulated)

--a now ubiquitous 'message delivery system' (television) that has turned a significant number of humans into distracted, misinformed zombies

--a toxic, dangerous economic system that has concentrated the wealth of this planet into the hands of a miniscule fraction of our planet's global population (writing the representative percentage requires scientific notation, and a double-digit negative exponent).

--destructive, endless 'wars' based on lies and profitability (and, don't even get me started about Depleted Uranium)

--a radical shift to exponential growth (read 'change') that few recognize and even fewer discuss.

Sigh...

I don't have time to list all of the other issues I've been witnessing. This would take weeks, if not months.

I'm watching as more and more of us resort to 'react' mode, letting our inchoate fears and frustrations manifest as road rage, name-calling, sarcasm, and other forms of mental, emotional and physical violence. Do I think we humans are experiencing a critical tipping point in our evolution as a species? You bet. Do I think we can do anything about it? I'm becoming increasingly skeptical.

I have been trying to get my certification to be a teacher, but I'm wondering if I should just cash in all my meager retirement accounts now, and move in with a friend who owns forty acres in rural Arkansas. I have already collected heirloom seeds for many of the fruits and veggies that I love, and I know how to split wood, use coal oil lamps, field dress any animal, can or pressure-can any consumable you can name, discern edible wildings, and purify creek water. I am within six points of 'Expert' with both pistols and rifles (though I prefer not to handle a shotgun). I could survive this imminent crisis...

The question becomes, given the near ubiquitous expressions of interpersonal violence manifest in most of humanity today, do I have any interest in struggling to survive through the next two decades in this, my twilight years on the planet?

That's the $64,000 question...

[ipaint]

64. I'd opt for the 40 acres and a little bit of peace.

Things aren't going to get better. Give it another decade, the road rage of the presently still employed and invested in the american dream middle class will be massive.

For me the documentary Gasland and the horrific willful neglect of the victims of the gulf oil spill were the last in a multi decade series of straws. I hold out no more hope.
I expect not to survive. If this is the point I have been reduced to (impending homelessness and the inability to feed myself without foodstamps) as a hardworking able bodied person then the past 20 years of no health care combined with increasing age and poverty doesn't bode well for my longevity. A blessing in disguise, I think.

[chervilant]

66. Yes,

and I think an ever increasing number of us are taking steps to Kevorkian our way out of this seething cauldron of misanthropy.

[bobbolink]

70. And the worst part is, we can't even talk about it.

I'm sorry. :pals:

[bobbolink]

72. Sounds great. But peace when you're poor is very hard to come by.

Its so easy for others to denigrate and belittle.

Your words are really getting to me. I'm finding this all very difficult to come to terms with.

I guess I had more "hope" than I realized. It doesn't die easily... just prolongs the misery.

[ipaint]

77. I held out hope for years.

Hope that people would stop abusing those poorer or weaker.
Hope that we would wake up before destroying the planet.
Hope that the democratic party would swing back to the left before it was too late.
Hope that war criminals, torturers, illegal spying and banksters would experience the rule of law.
Hope I would someday be able to see a doctor or a dentist.

No more. I can't afford the indulgence. I prefer eyes wide open.

Now I know I am the future of the middle class. Poverty, no home, food stamps and constant worry.
There is nothing I can do to stop it, but I sure as hell don't have to shut up about it so the comfortable classes can enjoy the spoils of their plunder peacefully.

[maryf]

82. +1000

[Bryn]

74. K&R

Kick to top ... things are getting worse here in America. Homelessness is gaining. It's very shameful and shouldn't happen, yet our government allow this to happen by not regulating corporations and how much control the rich can have over us, stealing from us, allowing them to move jobs oversea, etc. They're already rich yet they want more and more, those kind of rich people are very sick.

At the Rally to restore Sanity here in Arkansas, John Gray, a Green, gave a speech that that if we can't get "Citizens United" reversed before the 2012 elections that the US is sunk. I believe it. Money has taken over politics.

on edit: too late for me to recommend, but giving this thread a kick ...

[Liberal_in_LA]

75. saw the video last week - highly educated, mid career folks. Scary times

[Uncle Joe]

76. Kicked, but too late to recommend.

Thanks for the thread, marmar.

[Naturyl]

80. Some homeless have always been intelligent and educated.

Homeless people with intelligence only comes as a big "surprise" to Americans because we're trained to think of them all as mindless.

The opposite is often closer to the truth. Many homeless are that way because they see too much wrong with the conventional capitalist life.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

81. Bring back communes.

The hippies were right. I was a kid in the 60s. They were right that the Vietnam War was wrong.

People need to work together in larger households.

I've got a house on two acres in a little town. I would love to have someone around to raise chickens for eggs.

Right now I'm attempting to grow broccoli.

Instead, because of Wallyworld killing the economy in these small towns, I have people coming up and bugging me for work all the time. I know they need to work but I don't have an unlimited supply of work for them to do. Also, some of them say they can do anything but are not necessarily competent.

:banghead: