At Grave Risk: Bob Herbert, NYT

[Stuart G]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/opinion/22herbert.html?hp

By BOB HERBERT
Published: February 21, 2011

. Buried deep beneath the stories about executive bonuses, the stock market surge and the economy’s agonizingly slow road to recovery is the all-but-silent suffering of the many millions of Americans who, economically, are going down for the count.


A 46-year-old teacher in Charlotte, Vt., who has been unable to find a full-time job and is weighed down with debt, wrote to his U.S. senator, Bernie Sanders:

“I am financially ruined. I find myself depressed and demoralized and my confidence is shattered. Worst of all, as I hear more and more talk about deficit reduction and further layoffs, I have the agonizing feeling that the worst may not be behind us.”

Similar stories of hardship and desolation can be found throughout Vermont and the rest of the nation. The true extent of the economic devastation, and the enormous size of that portion of the population that is being left behind, has not yet been properly acknowledged. What is being allowed to happen to those being pushed out or left out of the American mainstream is the most important and potentially most dangerous issue facing the country.


rest of essay at link

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

More letters to Senator Sanders are in this essay. Heartbreaking view of what is happening to so many of us.

[barbtries]

1. excellent piece

with many thoughtful and thought-provoking comments. our nation is sick.

one new thing i learned and had no clue was the trend currently to refuse to even consider an unemployed person for a position. wtf.

[barbtries]

2. here's one comment from the article:

This is the world after 30 years of supply side economics.
This is the world of Ayn Rand Libertarians.
This is the world where a political "base" can consist of the "haves and the have mores".
This is the world where "corporation" equals citizen and those who used to be citizens are called "consumers".
This is the world where marketing matters more than making.
This is the world with more MBA's than machinists.
This is the world filled with bread and circus for the general public's distraction.
This is the world where the "news division" is a subset of the "entertainment division".
This is the world where liquidation of national assets and resources is considered success.
This is the world where we walk past the neatly groomed, middle-aged man on the sidewalk with his hand out, averting our eyes lest we recognize our neighbor, our friend, our brother.
This is the world where it is not our problem.
This is the United States of America.
"We're going out of business, everything must go." - Steely Dan

by John Alexander of Berkeley.

[BridgeTheGap]

3. Dupe thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x589735

[The Blue Flower]

4. Heartbreaking is the only word

I volunteer at a food bank, now that I'm over 60 and unemployed. The reality of the ruin of good, motivated workers is just staggering. Especially since it's so unnecessary, immoral, and counter to all logic except the logic of unbridled greed.