Anna Kurth and Jeff Warner at the Hibbing Daily Tribune did a nice perspective piece about what recently laid off miners on the Iron Range are thinking about and going through. The miners face challenges and worries, but it’s the other people down the employment food chain who face the prospect of genuine poverty should the recession continue. Nevertheless, this is not a happy time for many on the Iron Range. I occasionally encounter opinions to the effect of “They should have known better; it’s the mines.” But it can’t be stressed enough how fast and unexpected the magnitude of this recession hit people here. Usually recessions give up to a year of indicators before the steel prices translate into layoffs. In this case it was just months from boom to total bust.
‘It’s being taken away’
February 26, 2009 by 2 Comments
Why so much doom and gloom? The current economic times are not as great as they once were, but they are still not bad enough to effect our wonderful standard of living.
How many people do you know that are living in “poverty”? Did these people have to give up their cell phones and cancel their cable TV? How many of them gave up cigarettes and beer because they didn’t have enough money?
Even if times did actually get bad enough for people to start worrying about housing, heat, and food we have so many social safety nets in our society that no one needs to worry about their personal well being.
Before people complain about how bad things are they should take a look at the rest of the world. Go to Mexico or any other “developing nation” and see how the people live. If you have $10 to spare go watch Slum Dog Millionaire and see what hard times are really about.
There are still plenty of ways to support yourself at a reasonable standard in America. You may have to cut back on the extras, take a job that you don’t like, or maybe even relocate, but you can still find a way to live comfortably.
C.O.
I can always count on you to put things in perspective, C.O.! 🙂
You’re absolutely right that no one is starving out there. If fact, America’s propensity for making the fattiest foods also the cheapest will keep scads of unemployed people from withering away. I think the issue about “poverty” in America is more a matter of relativity. If you want to subsist you can under almost any circumstances. But if you want to pursue the current incarnation of “the American Dream” you will need a college degree. Some would argue you also need the ability to get a mortgage, but that’s secondary — I think — to education.
Most folks have food on the Range and aren’t necessarily giving up the beer and cigarettes. But more of my college students are working more hours at lower paying jobs and are giving up or scaling back on the idea of a college degree. You could argue that’s a choice and it is; but when it’s a choice that becomes part of the culture and times and becomes repeated by friends, family members and children then you’ve got a social problem.
Anyway, thanks for your perspective, C.O. — you are right; we aren’t carting dead people down the streets yet. 🙂