Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/06/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Most of them I'm talking about are people who came from middle class families and were basically never able to find jobs after graduating. It costs a lot of money to move to one of the few places where there are decent jobs. If you've never had a good job, you have no money to even put gas in the car to drive to another city on the other side of a continent-sized country. Think about it, to move, you need money to rent an apartment, pay deposits, get utilities turned on, etc. and still have money to eat while looking for a job, which can take months even in places where the economy I much better than Fort Wayne. In the cities where there are jobs for college grads, rents can often be $1000 or more a month for a tiny apartment and you typically have to pay a security deposit equal to a months rent in addition to the first month's rent when you move in. These middle class kids have no money and their families can't afford to give them several thousand dollars to move, rent a place to live, and support them financially until they get jobs. You know how I moved to Santa Fe? My family threw me out in the streets to starve because all they care about is money and appearances, which is very common here in Indiana. They were embarrassed that I couldn't find a job and told me straight out that the money it cost to feed me was more than I was worth. I knew a woman in Santa Fe that I met on a dating website who kept trying to get me to go out there and be with her, we talked for a year or so before I went there. I kept telling her that she didn't want to have me thee because I probably wouldn't be able to find a job. I had applied for more than 800 jobs in the midwest (not just FW, I looked in Indianapolis, Toledo, Chicago, Louisville...all major cities close to Ft. Wayne). I got exactly ONE interview from 800+ applications and was not hired. The girl in New Mexico told me she didn't care about money, so I sold an antique fishing lure that an old man in my neighborhood had given me when I was a kid. It was worth $1100! I used the money to put gas in my car and pay for hotels and food on the trip out there. Its a 3 day drive! If I had not gone there, I would be dead today. Even now, I have no family, except my son, and no one but him cares if I live or die in this goddamned shithole city. I came back here almost 3 yrs ago because my son's mother, who had custody of him, is mentally ill and her condition was getting really bad. Soon after I moved back, she was institutionalized by the state and I got custody of my son, who is now 14. We are stuck here until he turns 18, the law forbids me to move him out of state without his mother's permission (and if he lived with her, she would be under the same restriction). She won't give it, so we have 4 more yrs to go. It has been very hard. I have a patron in NM who has kept us from starving, and in the last couple years I have finally had some success selling my work off my website, and I do occasional web design and graphic design jobs for people who find me online. I get no business locally for the same reason I didn't before I left years ago. My family is white trash; I am the 7th person in our family's history to even graduate from high school, so I am not important enough, nor is my family, for me to be considered for any creative work here. There are so many unemployable artists here that only those from wealthy backgrounds are even considered. You cannot imagine how many times businessmen here told me that my work is some of the very best they have ever seen, but they cannot have me do photography or design work for them because of my family background. Discriminating based on class is perfectly legal in the USA. My income is 100% out of state, people in Santa Fe I did work for still come to me and I get sales of my prints from my website and I license my pictures for commercial uses. You know what's sad? As hard as things have been for me, I am doing really well by the standards of this place. Unemployment here is nearly 30% and everyone is losing their jobs and homes. I don't have to work a real job because I have my income from my out of state clients, and I live very simply. I wear old torn up clothes, because that stuff is not important to me. I drive an old junk car. I buy used books, not new ones. I do spend money on my son, he wears nice new clothes and has nice things. I'm willing to go without things, but I won't make him live like a monk. I have two Leicas and some lenses. Life is good! Most of the people here will not have the ability to leave. I had some strange things happen that made it all work (how many young graduates have a $1100 antique fishing lure to sell or someone in another state willing to feed them?). My story of being abandoned by my family as an embarrassment is not unique here. I know several young people with degrees who have become homeless that way. Some found friends to take them in, some found ways to leave town, some...dissappeared. The government doesn't give a damn, and the middle class here sees us as failures and a scary reminder that what they have can also be taken away. The ruling class went for the poor first, now the middle class is being crushed. Mexicans who sneak into the USA to find jobs are often called Wetbacks (a reference to them wading across the Rio Grande river, which separates Texas from Mexico). I wonder how long it'll be before Americans become Canada's 'wetbacks'? Mexico is not really a poor country, but its rulers just don't give a damn about the people. 98% of the wealth there is held by 2% of the people. The USA's rulers see that as the goal to be achieved! -- Chris Crawford Fine Art Photography Fort Wayne, Indiana 260-486-2581 http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com My portfolio http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com My latest work! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798 Become a fan on Facebook On 6/3/11 3:43 AM, "Nathan Wajsman" <photo at frozenlight.eu> wrote: > Japan and China are different, in Japan there is the overall demographic > decline, which is now beginning in China as well. The US population is > growing, on the other hand, and in general, historically Americans have > been > much more willing to uproot themselves in search for better opportunities > than > any other people. > > Cheers, > Nathan > > Nathan Wajsman > Alicante, Spain > http://www.frozenlight.eu > http://www.greatpix.eu > http://www.nathanfoto.com > PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws > Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog > > YNWA > > > > > > > > On Jun 3, 2011, at 9:10 AM, Richard Man wrote: > >> Not sure about Ft. Wayne specifically, but there are definitely towns in >> decline. Detroit is a prime example of a major city in decline. >> >> Some of these eventually turn into ghost towns, probably not Detroit nor >> Ft. >> Wayne, but smaller ones do run into trouble. >> >> In Japan, when similar things happen, usually when villagers move to the >> cities, some times the central government would force the smaller towns >> and >> cities to merge with neighboring cities. >> >> I suspect we will see things like that to happen in China soon too. They >> are >> building a lot of industrial cities >> >> On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 11:41 PM, Nathan Wajsman <photo at >> frozenlight.eu>wrote: >> >>> Hi Chris, >>> >>> Your photography of the industrial decline is moving; but one question >>> arises: you say that even educated people cannot find good jobs in Ft. >>> Wayne. Given the tendency in the US to move where the jobs are, why do >>> they >>> stay? >>> >>> Cheers, >>> Nathan >>> >>> Nathan Wajsman >>> Alicante, Spain >>> http://www.frozenlight.eu >>> http://www.greatpix.eu >>> http://www.nathanfoto.com >>> PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws >>> Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog >>> >>> YNWA >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Jun 3, 2011, at 5:16 AM, Chris Crawford wrote: >>> >>>> http://chriscrawfordphoto.com/chris-details.php?prodId=476 >>>> >>>> This is across the street from the Harvester factory that I posted a >>> photo >>>> of yesterday. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Chris Crawford >>>> Fine Art Photography >>>> Fort Wayne, Indiana >>>> 260-486-2581 >>>> >>>> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com My portfolio >>>> >>>> http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com My latest work! >>>> >>>> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798 >>>> Become a fan on Facebook >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Leica Users Group. >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> // richard <http://www.imagecraft.com/> >> // icc blog: <http://imagecraft.com/blog/> >> // richard's personal photo blog: <http://www.5pmlight.com> >> [ For technical support on ImageCraft products, please include all >> previous >> replies in your msgs. ] >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information