Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/06/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well, it will take a lot of effort to make manufacturing thrive in the USA again, specifically because of employee cost (including medical requirements). I was just seeing a video of a global investment conference where it was said that the USA has only 20 million manufacturing jobs left, and any uptick there will do nothing for the employment rate. I sometimes wonder how most of the students with a US$100,000 (or whatever) loan outstanding for a useless undergraduate degree will ever pay it back. Surely the only bubble left in the USA is in the cost of education (not the quality). By the way all the Indians in the USA with an engineering degree, especially from the highly regarded Indian Institutes of Technology, have all been subsidised by the state to the tune of probably 75-80% of the actual cost. So we know the problem, as most of them used to emigrate! Just a couple of years ago they have started raising fees quite steeply, but nowhere even remotely near a break even. The good news is that in the last few years a lot of them are staying back here and working, so the country is getting the benefit of all those subsidies at last. Lastly, the graduates and post graduates with good degrees can always come to Asia, the job market is picking up here - there really seems to be a shortage of good quality freshers. In case you would like to see the conference, it is worth the effort, I have given the link below. Be warned, though, that it is over a hour and a quarter long, so settle down with popcorn and beer! http://vimeo.com/19820749 Cheers Jayanand On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 2:00 PM, Chris Crawford <chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com> wrote: > Jayanand, > > I know what you mean, I have seen a lot of photographs done in poor parts > of > India's big cities, and they always seem to be very colorful, lively > places, > despite the poverty. In the United States (not just Ft. Wayne), poor urban > areas are very bleak, often violent, places. The Happy Motors picture was > done in an industrial area near one of the city's poorest neighborhoods, an > area that averages 4-5 shootings a week and a murder every 10 days. > > Most of the city is not that bad, but even the safer areas of town are > becoming bleak and depressing places as more and more people lose their > homes and middle class neighborhoods are seeing more and more empty houses. > Unemployment here is about 25% now. For university graduates it is almost > 80%, according to the local newspaper. The jobs that do exist here are all > just manual labor jobs, very few need or want educated people. > > Indiana University and Purdue University are both state-supported > universities here in Indiana, and are among the best in the country. People > come from all over the world to study here, in a state where virtually none > of the graduates of these great universities are wanted by employers. The > state's governor has complained that the state is paying to educate tens of > thousands of students who will immediately leave the state with that > education because no one will hire them here. Indiana residents get to > attend state-supported universities at half-tuition; the state government > pays the rest....so the taxpayer here is basically paying to educate > workers > for other states, since most of the grads leave Indiana to find jobs! > > Of course, the governor merely complained, he didn't actually DO anything > about the problem. > > I have a bachelor's degree from IU, and will have my masters degree next > year. I have two classes left before I am finished with it. I left Indiana > after earning my bachelors because no one would hire me, and I will leave > again as soon as I am able. Damned shame; Indiana wouldn't be such a bad > place to live if there were jobs paying living wages to men like me. The > climate is nice, the cost of living very low, and this is my hometown. None > of that means a thing if I am homeless and starving, like I was before I > left the first time. > > > -- > 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 6/5/11 11:33 PM, "Jayanand Govindaraj" <jayanand at gmail.com> wrote: > >> Chris, >> Looking at your photographs of Fort Wayne from half a world away, I wonder >> why anyone would live there. It looks totally demeaning. We have much more >> appalling poverty here, but it does not feel so bleak, or such a dead end, >> if you know what I mean. >> Cheers >> Jayanand >> >> On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 2:10 AM, Chris Crawford <chris at >> chriscrawfordphoto.com >>> wrote: >> >>> http://chriscrawfordphoto.com/chris-details.php?prodId=479 >>> >>> >>> -- >>> 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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >