The End of the Middle Class: The Human Toll

This particular article was shared with us today by a friend. After reading, check out the comments posted by local workers at the link below. It's easy to be disgusted by the outrageous financial collapses, the never ending bailouts and the rampant fraud but the human toll takes the cake. As was pointed out by our friend, it reads like an obituary for the industrial American workforce.

NPG's Effect on CNY's Economy
Read Here: http://community.9wsyr.com/blogs/from_the_newsroom/archive/2008/01/11/2374169.aspx

I found this most disturbing:

I worked at NPG in the late 80's. I kept getting laid off and decided that factory work just wasn't for me. But let me tell you the work is hard. It is not a cushy job and the money you make is not a whole lot of money for the work you do. Chrysler NPG now known as Magna is a hot, dirty, smelly stifling place. It is no piece of cake to work there. I sympathize with those who may lose their jobs. People like to think that those working in these factories are spoiled or make too much money. Are you kidding me? If you've never been in this plant or worked there you can't comment about someone being spoiled.

People have been injured (my cousin had a portion of his finger sliced off). People walk away from there after years of working with repetitive movement injuries. That particular plant can be dangerous because of the type of materials that are handled and machinery used. I personally burned myself with an extremely hot piece of metal when I worked there. I also almost ground one of my hands off because I worked the 3rd shift and it was a difficult shift for me. It is no cake walk believe me. And yes it would be a blow to the economy. It is not just the plant closing and all those people losing their jobs. It is all of the other economic areas that will be affected. The surrounding businesses in that area would lose a substantial amount of income due to the fact that those workers wouldn't be there.

With the real unemployment rate approximated at 18% by Shadowstats, further collapse can and likely will put national unemployment at 25-30% for starters. As Gerald Celente loves to say, "when people lose everything, THEY LOSE IT!"

At The End of The day from Les Miserables may describe the situation best.