Another loss for journalism, society

Bob Herbert's final column in The New York Times is essentially a summary of what I have been saying since I started this blog. Our failing economy (as well as many other societal problems) is the result of institutional and individual greed at the very top of our society. Unemployment, record deficits, pollution -- heck, the disappearing of pollinating bees -- can be directly linked to the worst instincts and actions of the most powerful people and greediest corporations.

However, we must also look at ourselves. Columns like Herbert's aren't as well read as they once were because people are not only moving away from reading quality newspapers and becoming apathetic about current events, they are morphing into imbeciles -- refugees of a worn-out, dumbed-down culture who are unable to hold political leaders and the mega-wealthy accountable. Self-inflicted ignorance, as much as anything, is the reason we're on the edge of figurative and literal extinction.

We let it happen -- allowed the rich and powerful fool us into thinking they were somehow on our side. All we needed to do was elect them or put them into the corner office. Then the money and jobs would flow. Well, all they've done for us is take our jobs and support each other in their lies. They lie about war. They lie about profits. They even lie about global warming.

There is no place left for aging writers and editors like Herbert. In this troubling era, when we need thoughtful commentators and smart, objective editors, we are tragically left with Fox News and large newspaper chains that only care about their own stock prices and reducing newsroom payrolls.

Click here read Herbert's last column.

It's already too late for millions of Americans who have lost their jobs

In a recent column, Bob Herbert, a New York Times writer, portrays what I and others have been saying for many months. Average Americans are facing economic devastation that policymakers have yet to fully grasp. Millions of people who were firmly entrenched in the middle class now find their savings gone and futures looking more dismal by the day. Even if they return to work, it's unlikely many will be able to recover to the point where they can avoid living on the streets in old age. The damage has already been done and returning to work is becoming a near impossibility as employers continue to sit on profits.

This is a national emergency on a scale that we've never seen because there is no light at the end of this tunnel, no confidence that government and business will unite to pull us out of this. Quite the contrary. Sadly, we are approaching these problems like we have in the past, not realizing the uniquely catastrophic circumstances of this particular recession that has targeted the middle class while those on the top have quickly recovered via bailouts and other perks or privilege. America will soon be the ultimate have and have-not country.

With the exception of commentators like Herbert, the news media doesn't seem to understand the depth of the emergency. Elected officials are using the collapse of the middle class to score political points instead of finding solutions. With each savings account that is drained goes the hopes of many Americans. Hundreds of thousands are already struggling to simply clothed and feed themselves. These are people who three years ago had homes, nest eggs and college accounts for their kids. They are victims of what was probably an overzealous reaction by many employers to cut payroll to the bone. Meanwhile, the media barely scratches the surface of the most profound story since World War II.

Some who were in the middle class are losing the will to go on. This class of people did everything right, or so they thought. They educated themselves. Worked hard. And now they can't pay the electric bill. That changes people, particularly people who once prided themselves on being self-reliant. It changes the fabric of a society. We can fund wars but we can't pay to create jobs? We can export entire professions and grant millions of work visas, but can't provide employment for our middle class? It's tragic.

This recession is a silent killer. But it's only silent because people in power have their hands over their ears. In fact, the term "recession" doesn't quite explain the depth or complexities of what is really happening at the core of our society, in the smallest towns and biggest cities.

It appears survival of the fittest is the new American norm. Those who have jobs are choosing to not think about those without paychecks. Those in a position to hire aren't doing so in order to fortify their security. People in government make job-creation policies that have no teeth so that they can survive another election season without making too many waves. The millions of people impacted the most by the economic collapse will perish soon enough, long before their time, leaving the country to those who protected their riches and turned their backs on former colleagues, neighbors and friends who weren't quite as fortunate.

Read the Herbert column.

The downfall of the suburbs

"A new study from the Brookings Institution tells us that the largest and fastest-growing population of poor people in the U.S. is in the suburbs."

How's that for a wake-up call. Read more in Bob Herbert's column: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/opinion/23herbert.html

Yes, Herbert's opinion piece is very similar to my Jan. 19 post. But note that his column was written on Jan. 22. Guess a lot of people are beginning to reach the same conclusions based on the same realities we see all around us. We are in serious trouble but the politicians still don't get it. Some people just want to continue to stick their heads in the sand or blame unemployed people for not trying hard enough to find work. Some folks live in such a state of being above it all that until some beggar with a master's degree is camped out on their circular driveway, they refuse to open their eyes to any inconvenient truths.

Not only does the economy have to be the top priority, but age discrimination must be addressed so that people over 50 have a fair shot at getting back to work. I've said this countless times in this blog. Laws are being blatantly broken by employers who now openly advertise jobs for younger people. Discrimination violations aren't even being masked anymore. It reminds me of the way real estate ads were once written to distinguish between white and black communities (right and wrong side of the tracks), yet fooled no one. But with job ads, employers aren't even attempting to speak in code words anymore. They are coming right out and saying they don't want anyone over 30 or 40 to apply or are using phrases like "youthful energy" to describe qualities they want in job candidates. Amazing that there prejudice is so transparent. So much institutional knowledge, experience and know-how being flushed from society.

On this same topic, here's something else we better start thinking about. There is going to be a profound need for affordable or free senior-citizen housing soon. With so many 50 and 60somethings out of work or in jeopardy of losing their jobs, a normal, self-reliant retirement is becoming an impossible dream for millions. If the politicians aren't going to fix the economy, then at least start building the shelters now so that we can warehouse older people who have lost everything in this recession. It won't be pretty, but it's better than living on the streets.

Homelessness is already increasing in the suburbs. Just yesterday, someone I know got a memo at work stating that a homeless person's belongings were found in the stairwell landing near an elevator that goes to a parking lot. Other office building managers have noticed similar signs of folks finding shelter in parking garages or anywhere else that protects them from the bitter cold. These reports are coming from middle-class and high-end areas in Reston and Tysons Corner, Va. This was unheard of just a few short years ago in these types of communities.

What's astonishing is that acts of desperation are happening in an upscale, well-educated area like Northern Virginia where the unemployment rate isn't as bad as it is in the rest of the country. However, I think what is leading to this new homeless class is that Northern Virginia is also very expensive. If you do lose your job here, and can't find one elsewhere, you very well could end up on the streets, as I am becoming intimately aware of as my own predicament worsens.