The Beach After The End Of Humanity

A beautiful sea of sapphire,
Washes up the souls of the lost.
The wind blows the palm fronds gently,
Carrying a whisper of hope and sorrow
From the spirits drifting in the air.
The white foam that used to wash up
On bare toes,
Wishes to be surfed on once more,
By those who loved life for what it was.
The golden brown sand,
Lies bare, with no footprints whatsoever.
No beach umbrellas set up at all.
The sun's rays warm up no one,
Only the sand, which longs to be walked upon.
A dolphin sticks its head up close to shore,
Crying out; it is so lonely.
No one ever comes here anymore.
No one swims in the sparkling water.
No one plays volleyball on the sand.
Nothing is here at all.

There is no one to come to this beach.
Only the wind blows.
Only the sea washes up.
Only the dolphins cry.
Only the sun shines
There is no one,
Nothing else at all
To walk the shoreline

One huge consequence of today’s economic recession is unemployment. This was also a problem in Victorian Era England, when the Industrial Revolution, combined with a population explosion along with a surge in immigration, caused soaring unemployment rates (citation). While the causes may not be the same today, unemployment is still a significant problem in American society.
Dictionary.com defines the unemployment rate as “The percentage of the total labor force that is unemployed but actively seeking employment and willing to work.” According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the United States was 10.2% as of March 2010; in fact, 11 states had rates measurably higher than the national average. This translates to roughly 15 million unemployed people from the labor pool. This is a huge change, considering that the unemployment rate was as low as 4.3% in May of 2007 (“Labor Force...”). These lost jobs are likely to last for these people; forty four percent of the unemployed have been out of work for at least six months (Chan). However, there are signs of improvement; in the last month, jobs were created in the United States at the fastest pace in the last three years, less people are claiming unemployment benefits, and the manufacturing industry is slowly recovering (Pace).
But what caused such a sharp spike in unemployment? Like many complex issues, there is no single, easily identifiable culprit. Christina Romer, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, believes that that “Unemployment is high fundamentally because the economy is producing dramatically below its capacity." Romer cited tight credit, and lower consumer spending as reasons for the decline in demand. givernmental budget shortfalls, Reassuringly, the high jobless rate is not due to structural damage to the economy, but simply a cycle; it can be inferred that the rate will return to normal soon. However, others believe that the high unemployment rate is due to a decrease in manufacturing jobs; this shows that there is no single, easily agreed upon cause.
The consequences of a high unemployment rate can be devastating. Lawrence Mishel, president of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, predicts that the poverty rate among children will rise from 18 percent in 2007 to 27 percent in 2011 due to more and more Americans filing for bankrupcy. The increasing jobless rate also leads to massive debt; today, the per capita debt total is $46,000, up from $14,000 in 1982 (adjusted to 2009 value). Like it has been stated above, these jobs are more likely to be lost for good, as companies look to use technology and foreign labor to replace current workers and cut costs. It has also been predicted that the finance and construction industries will not get their number of jobs back up to pre-recession levels, meaning more lost jobs that likely will not be regained.
What can be done to lower the soaring unemployment rate? Again, there is no simple, single solution to such a complex issue. While speaking at Princeton University, Romer suggested increasing federal grants to states and helping small businesses. Leo Hindery, Jr, Chairman of the Smart Globalization Initiative at the New America Foundation, believes that the government should initiate a policy that puts famers and miners first and create more manufacturing jobs. He also thinks that








CHAN, SEWELL. "Unemployment Is Tied To Big Drop in Demand." New York Times 18 Apr. 2010: 23. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Apr. 2010.

"Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey." United States Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d. Web. 27 Apr 2010. <http://www.bls.gov/cps/>.

Pace, Julie. "Unemployment challenges Obama's economic push." Associated Press 27 Apr 2010: n. pag. Web. 27 Apr 2010.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leo-hindery-jr/the-real-unemployment-nee_b_420108....

http://recession.org/news/poverty-rate-highest-in-twelveyears