Nothing Personal

There are people who make things happen and people who have things happen to them.

The second group is the larger of the two and I think it has to be that way.

Now this has worked fairly well as leaders would arise to lead tribes and clans deciding on the best course of action.

Now of course it requires that the leaders share the same issues as the followers, and of course when we were in tribes, clans and into the modern age, it was generally true.

Now there were exceptions as kings and nobles occupied a different world than their subjects did but even so they had the same general global interests since they were still mutually dependent.

Even the early industrial revolution saw the industrialists and the workers generally concerned with many of the same issues, as the interdependence was strong.

Of course as communications and stock companies became the norm, the people who owned the company were no longer necessarily connected to the locality, or the people.

In fact the workers became just another asset to be used or discarded when no longer useful.

So while the local workers built a life and a tradition around the local business, the owners became more and more removed and dispassionate.

This of course led to businesses moving to either other parts of the country or the world.

The good life that was created was a costly one and it required good wages.  This made the area uncompetitive with cheaper parts of the country or the world leaving the workers unemployed and unable to find jobs that paid as well.

The adjustment that has to happen, and it might never happen in certain areas, is that they need to adjust and train for the future jobs.

You can see certain areas that have become revitalized, Pittsburgh is a decent example while others are not recovering.

Economic reality can be cruel and it always has some victims.

It might not be personal, but to the victims it sure seems personal.