In response to Nancy-1368058

Maybe "these peopel (sp)" have a sense of community and would like to build that community back up. Why don't you just wish them dead while you are at it so they can realize their "eternal destiny" sooner. Love your "Christian" compassion.

Elkhart isn't the only place this is happening.  There are stories like this throughout the nation.  The only thing giving me hope of keeping my manufacturing job is that they finally imposed tariffs on chinese tires.  They need to expand that to include other goods manufactured here.  We've done this to ourselves by purchasing cheap imported goods.  The countries of China and India are driving us to our knees and we are playing right into their hands.  We need to take our country back from their control.  Too many of you don't see the importance of buying American goods but would rather blame the U.S. manufacturers or even the unemployed people for the circumstances surrounding their misfortune.  The tire industry was heard because they have a union but many small manufacturers are closing every day without a peep.  People if we lose our ability to manufacture anything on our soil we will be quite vulnerable.  The price of imported goods flowing into this country are far below what even the raw materials cost to purchase thus how do we compete?  The governments of China and India subsidize their manufacturers for what purpose?  A representative from an Indian manufacturer told me that I need to just shut down our machines and buy from them.  This is their purpose!!  Who will buy their goods when we are all unemployed.  The war wages on without a shot fired.  Stand up AMERICA!!!

Move to where? China, India, Centeral America? That is where the corporations are moving low paying jobs to.

Go to WALMART , K Mart, or some other major chain. Watch the all americans buying foreign made goods. I feel that greed rules! There is no social conscience!

Try buying American if you can.

I left my family and hometown almost 25 years ago because I thought I was going to really advance my opportunities by moving to California. Today I am no better off financially than my classmates from high school who stayed put.  I missed my nieces and nephews growing up and all their birthday parties, graduations and many, many holidays. Today my parents are almost 85; and everyone has grown up and I realize I missed so much! I don't blame people for not wanting to leave a place that they call "home".

I agree, I am confused by all the uncertainty these people are facing.

Years ago my wife and I made the difficult decision to move from western New York when times began to get difficult. The key is being able to see things are getting bad, something everyone in Elkhart had to see coming.

No one wants to relocate away from friends and family but who wants to explain to little Joey why Santa won't be coming this year.

Times have been tough, brought on by our nations bad decision to relocate jobs to foreign countries and greedy corporations within our borders.

At one time when things started to improve in our country the foundation was still intact, businesses were still here to rehire as demand increased, think about all the businesses that are GONE now, there are no businesses left to rehire!

It's my opinion that those who refuse to relocate because their "family lives in town" had better hope they have really understanding relatives with really deep pockets.

In reply to,

"Michael-1368131

In response to Nancy-1368058

Maybe "these peopel (sp)" have a sense of community and would like to build that community back up. Why don't you just wish them dead while you are at it so they can realize their "eternal destiny" sooner. Love your "Christian" compassion."

Is there any wonder nothing gets accomplished when we have people who can only offer advice from one extreme end of the spectrum to the other? where is the common ground in a comment such as this?

I think the interpretation of the economic downturn as a result of offshoring is perniciously inaccurate. The economic crisis was caused by people and banks having excessive liabilities and illiquid assets. We may have also lost the "innovation race" recently as well. Offshoring should be understood as an innovation. We have innovations such as the iPod, Windows Vista and Unregulated Credit Default Swap Markets. Can you guess which of our innovations was a bad idea? There has been no legistlation whatsoever that does anything at all to prevent another economic crisis. If people are so confused that they think that the economic crisis was caused by offshoring or Bill Clinton or Santa Claus then we can rest assured that no legislation will be passed. You are doomed to repeat your history until you understand it. Enjoy.

It's not that easy, what do you do with your home, let it be repossessed? Also, family support can aid in child care and transportation expenses. I lost my job as a case manager over a year ago. My house went into short sale and my unemployment is getting ready to run out.

I've looked for jobs all over the country, and yeah, I could find work in other states that paid less than 30k a year, but you try and pay rent, a car payment and day out of that and still have money for things like food and electricity.

I was living in Fort Wayne making 36k a year, and that was barely enough to keep our heads above water, how is a 10k a year cut, with higher costs of living going to improve my situation?

Elkart is in even worse shape than Fort Wayne. The problem is companies are hurting, they know people are desperate for jobs, so they are lowering their starting wages. I've had three potential employers tell me they went with recent grads because they will work for less money. Experience is not as important as saving money to them in this economy.

Retail and food service jobs won't hire me, I have a master's degree, Walmart knows I'm not a likely long term employee, I can't even get an interview.

As a single mother of a special needs child I would have lost everything if it wasn't for the kindness of my family giving us a guest room to use. My life is in a storage unit that I'm afraid I'll lose once my unemployment ends this month. In the 15 months I've been unemployed I've sent over four thousand resumes, I've had l less than 2 dozen interviews and no offers. This past week there were three positions I was even remotely qualified to fill. I don't see an end in sight.

I see some encouraging signs here lately. I've been getting bites on my reumes/applications but it's not in RV's anymore. I can't get a job at K-Mart because I too am overqualified according to a friend who manages one in Elkhart. Most things I am running into are part-time but, some rent is better than none at all. I did have the time to build a nice trailer and will consider selling it on eBay. Like nothing else ever produced. We will see.

Ira,

BINGO! I do own a home and have responsabilities here. The weight if such a decision is not easy. Just because the grass looks greener doesn't mean there won't be a drought soon. How does a person leave behind all of their friends, mother, father and entire family support system? And to what? It's not like there are tons of job prospects for us(any of us) out there.

I am living in a world of what if's right now. As I imagine most people around the country are. I would love to be able to give back to my community. But I can't afford to. I would love to open a business, but I don't have the credit to get approved. I am seeing things in this town that I have never seen before and it breaks my heart on a daily basis.

What happens if you lose your job and can't pay the mortgage? Isn't it the same outcome?

Isn't it better to make a decision without the bank forcing your hand?

How much more emotionally draining can it be to move to stay employed or to stay put and suffer all the indignities associated with losing everything you have ever worked for?

In this day of modern communications isn't it better to stay "connected" via technology than to suffer in person with everyone else who's losing everything they had too?

It's the difference in giving up on yourself and going down fighting. And I choose to at least try. I will not make a decision that could put my family in a far worse situation.

I'm not sure where your comment places you in the debate.

Do you mean you'll go down fighting doing what you need to do to survive or just simply go down when the bank forecloses?

It would seem the latter would require far more effort on the families part than relocating to stay employed.

I don't think it would qualify as giving up on yourself when you are forced into a position that you can't win versus doing what almost everyone knows is right by staying gainfully employed.

I agree.

Only our fathers were guaranteed a gold watch at the end of a forty year career at the same business.

In my quest to continue working and provide, at times, only a meager living, I have relocated from my country of birth(Canada) to New York state and then before all hell broke lose in New York state we relocated again to the southern US.

We were able to see things taking a turn for the worse and then before we couldn't make a decision on our own we decided to make the move.

It's amazing what can happen when you pay half or less for your rent or mortgage and save on utility bills.

The phones work the same here as they do up north and this allows you to keep in touch with all your friends and family, at least the ones that can afford to keep their phone turned on.

Yes, you do have some hard decisions to make in life but the only bad choice is indecision.

Yes but if you buy American the money stays here helping build OUR country instead of the rest of the world!!!  The money multiplies and comes back to all of us again. 

You are so right about how much cheaper it would be to do business with a national health care system but as usual in this country corporate greed and completely asinine comments will keep it from ever happening.

We are running out of time, the idiots that don't want this to happen will also keep industry from ever gaining strong momentum.

Also, NAFTA to the average person in this country is almost a mute subject. Very little business is relocating to Mexico or Canada, it is all going to Asia.

In our haste to have things streamlined in the 70's and 80's we also sealed our fate in the demise of American industry.

Think about it, where did your milk and butter and eggs etc. come from when you were young? No doubt a local farm and local I mean likely within 50-100 miles from where you lived!

It's not hard to believe that in the day of good wages and plenty of jobs that we as a country would want things that we use every day to be as cheap as possible.

And as far as another Great Depression, son, open your eyes, we will not recover from the mess we're in a quickly as they recovered from the Great Depression unless we have an awakening as a nation and let the common sense in power take hold.

tell that to the 30 million unemployed people in america, not because they are lazy or stupid but because it's cheaper to ship the jobs out even if it is destroying our society. I remember when GM was making a billion bucks a year and STILL laid off workers. I owrk for a company first thing bush did when he stole the election in 2000 was to give it a 34 million tax break and did the jobs 'trickle down'? sure did ..they built a data center in hyperbaad India hired a bunch of them and laid off 1,000 americans. these are not 'sorry excuses from the left' you dummy it simply is THE TRUTH.

I work for a company

We aren't in a union environment and still can not compete with global trade. The other countries of the world make it impossible for people making $9 hr to stay employed. People in India doing the same exact job as our people make $100/month!!! How do we compete against that???

I am a contractor in a Union environment. I would love to be a part of the Union or even a part of Management. However, the only positions that are available are contracted. Nearly 30% of our workforce is contracted. The Union is depleted from a high of nearly 13000 members to now only 3500 positions here. They are losing the battle for positions.

However, the Union is not working or even fighting smart. There is no doubt that Management would like to expunge the Union from the organization. But Management is justifying its actions from a moral high ground that has been provided by less than ethical activities by Union members.

For instance, the management of my department refrains from actively managing the workforce to the extent that some less than ethical Union members brazenly violate technology and just general work ethics. We have one Union employee who spent 2 months watching DVD's on his personal DVD player in his cubicle. He took it home when he got bored with that and has spent much of his time here on the internet. Others spend significant time discussing non-work issues and some of this group just do the absolute minimum to get along.

About 50% of the Union people here are hard workers. 90% of the work product that comes from this department is from them and the contractors. The joke around here is that if you are a hard worker the Union steward doesn't know your name. There is unfortunately, some truth to that.

If the Union were to police itself and work with Management to discipline or ultimately replace those under performing workers, it would be taking a step in the right direction.  Unions were formed by people who were leaders that were not afraid to take risks. Today they are the last bastion of those fearful of change. In order to survive or even thrive, Unions must work hard to generate efficiencies, become more effective, and re-establish themselves as worthy of the salaries and benefits which they have wrested for themselves.

At one point in time, people were proud that they were in a Union. Others wished they could be there too. Now, to admit that you are Union is less of a statement of pride, and more an acknowledgment of membership in 2nd class berth on an often sinking ship. I wish it wasn't so. I also wish that businesses were hiring as I have been searching for 18 months for a position. There are few jobs available in the field that I am qualified, for which I have not applied. Yet, all I have been successful at finding are contracts at other firms in similar straights.

Life is hard. It will become much harder for Union members as well as the rest of us if Unions can not reclaim the moral high ground and business acumen which validated their inception. Go Union.

Best point I've heard all day.

We need to be impressing upon our nation the importance of an education and not only for our young.

Life is an education, there is no single formula for success! It takes the education of the nation to make us all look intelligent!

Wow. Seems I have made you hate me for some reason.

Just so you know, my husband and I have been working since we were both about 15, either part time after school or full time in our adult lives.

Apparently, you've missed the point. The point is, that there are soo many of us who have ben working, giving, caring and living in the real world for a good long time now. Just because I have not served in the miliitary does not for a minute mean I don't care or haven't sacrificed. I have lost many friends and family to the military, whatever branch. I am proud of the men and women who go into it. They are truley amazing people and I do not take anything from them. The point of me telling my story is to put a face on those of us around Elkhart and the entire nation who are simply fed up with following the rules. Breaking their backs only to be stabbed in them when the shareholders don't get their bonus.

As far as we should have seen this coming, yeah you are probably right. But, it really happened very qickly. Things weren't the best a year ago, but they were no where near what they are today. I won't say it snuck up on us, but it packed a far worse punch then we thought it would.

Been there, done that. And I'm still torn as to whether moves are really beneficial or not. As a person who has moved across the country and across the world, I can tell you moving is not easy or cheap. The first time I moved, it was from WI to CA and it was made possible only because my fiance had a job offer in Silicon Valley and the company thankfully covered moving costs. Still, we were hardly prepared for the $1,500+ rents for crappy one-bedroom flats. Not to mention the $1M houses that we could never afford. The good thing was that my career really blossomed -- I had opportunities I would never, ever have in WI and my salary quadrupled in 3 years from what I had made in WI. HOWEVER, being a Midwesterner living in high-cost CA, I still felt like an immigrant from a 3rd world country. If you have savings of $10,000 in WI (or IN), and then move to someplace like CA with better jobs but higher costs, that money is barely worth anything. In other words, your life savings is probably only a few months of rent. So you can move from Elkhart, but you may still live very poorly because of the relative costs. Still, in the long run, it may benefit the children to be so close to good schools and good jobs in better economies. Sadly, there's no right answer here.

That's why it has to be done when you still have some.

When you are ready to pay the moving cost, oh and buy my house in a failing housing market at the price I can afford to let it go for, find an apartment or house for my family to live in, set up some interviews, prepare resumes, and tell my son he has to leave his best friend (he's 5 by the way) and his school in which he just started this year, let me know. I am still employed for now. I have things and people to whom I have responabilities. I do not walk away form those or take those lightly. It may have worked for you in the 70's but this is 209 and it's not as easy as pie anymore.

When I did try to leave as a younger adult, I went south and was in 4 hurricanes in three months in which I could have but luckily did not, lose everything. It crappy all over the nation. I'll take my chances here for now thanks. Unless you have the time and money, I'm not going anywhere for now. My husband and I love our home that we have put time, money energy and heart and soul into. It is what we have worked soo hard for. We just want to be able to keep it.

Finally, someone who gets it. Thank you.

jholderread, (Jennifer)

since this article was about you and you feel the need to comment to those who offer input that disagrees with you - what is your point?

1. your husband took classes in the IT field - are there jobs in the IT market in Elkhart? And if there are - aren't there already expereinced IT workers already looking to fill those openings?

2. your husband has expereince in the RV field - is that field going to take off again? If so, how many others will be waiting for those jobs?

3. by your own statement "if moving is what it takes then unfortunately that is what we will do"....then you list twenty reasons why you don't/won't move.....and state "I'll take my chances here for now thanks"

4. It seems you have made your choice - you want to stay where you are - where there is little hope for your husband to go back to work in the RV field and an area that probably isn't IT heavy and there are "experienced laid off IT workers" already looking for any opening s that may arise.

So you made your choice.

One thing I do know about Elkhart and the surrounding area - most of the people "moved into this area for jobs from somewhere else" over the last 20-30-40 years. Guess "uprooting" wasn't a problem then.

1. With any new industry coming in, hopefully there will be.

2. I don't see the RV industry taking off again. And my husband has never really been a sales kind of guy. But if you are offering he can be taught.

3. I have made the choice, for now, to stay where I am. A majority of our family is here. IF we do move, it will be because of my mother and step father in laws health, and it won't be until at least next summer. We have made some great improvements on our home, when we could save the money to do so, just in case. I am looking toward the future and we know that moving may be what we have to do.

4. Maybe those laid off IT workers have already moved to the big cities and when the industry takes off here, Danny will have a fighting chance. I would not want to see him going back in to the RV industry that has taken soo much of his mind and body soo far. But, if it is offered, he has no choice.

If I were single, did not own my own home, have a child, a sense of community, and the best friends for support that I do have, yes, the decision to up root would be easy for me too. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case.