In the End, Only Time Will Tell

Greene County has faced a number of financial challenges since the profitable coal industry left this area. While reading some local history the other day, it was quite evident that this community was very prosperous in its day. http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathe...

Today, our community's financial challenges appear to cause other social issues, such as blighted properties, as they are no doubt additional ramifications of these financial struggles. http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathen/entry/15015/ Adding to it, buyers from around-the-state and out-of-state can afford to buy properties at tax and sheriff sales and let them waste away because real estate is so cheap by comparison to the rest of the nation. http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathe...

Along these same lines, much of our community's pride is lost and morale lowered each day as properties become more blighted and people struggle to find adequate pay outside of our community by commuting long distances. Many travel an hour or more to Monroe and Vigo Counties, while others even travel as far as Indianapolis.
http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathen/entry/13170/ This forces them to be away from loved ones even more each day. It also adds to an already long workday. With the short amount of time they have left, we feast on cheap fast food and give our kids gifts in lieu of our time, causing childhood obesity and behavior issues because of the lack of attention. Of course, when resources are scarce, the bickering amongst family members will no doubt increase. High foreclosure rates assure families are affected too. http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathen/entry/15378/
Alternatively, some of our talented workers are forced into lower wage "under-employment" to stay close to home, but it's certainly not the best use of our resources.

In short, although it may be oversimplifying things, our financial issues in this county could arguably be the source of many of our other problems.

Looking back historically, Americans have been fiercely independent and proud. In our country's beginnings, almost everyone was self-employed, as a farmer, merchant, baker, blacksmith, undertaker, doctor, or craftsman. Each person determined his or her own fate and prosperity, working harder to be more successful. Long-distance transportation and communication were poor, so everyone bought locally because that's the only choice they had.

Of course, the Industrial Revolution came along and taught our ancestors that they should move to the city and work in factories. They became dependent on the factory owners for all they had. Miners became so deeply indebted to the company stores that they would never see the light of day. Long-distance transportation and communication improved, as well as technology, even though it may all be seen as crude today.

During World War II when salaries and wages were capped via government regulation, the idea of employer-provided benefits, such as health insurance, became popularized. Ultimately, along with defined benefit pensions, this caused additional dependence on the employers of these workers. Again, transportation, communication, and technology improved.

Today, many people blame the global marketplace for American job loss, which offers much lower wages, little or no environmental constraints and/or liability lawsuits. A cheap wage is one thing, but being able to bury toxic by-products with a backhoe out back is even better for profitability. No big lawsuits are filed when things go awry either, such as products found to be faulty http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathen/entry/16100/, harsh chemicals are spilled, a mine collapses, or someone loses a limb in a machine. In America, we lawyer up after such an event, while in other countries they just say, "Send your brother to work tomorrow to take your place."

Blame globalization, but to a much, much greater degree improvements in transportation, communication, and technology have all caused more American job loss than any off-shoring has. Technology, logistics, and advanced production processes have increased productivity and quality to a point where very few workers are needed to produce and deliver significantly more goods and services relative to years past.

Loss of good old-fashioned customer service has lowered the amount of employees needed, too, as no one seems to expect any help at the big box stores anymore. Looking for something they don't have? Tough. Need your groceries bagged? Do it yourself. Like help out to the car with your purchase? Bring a friend.

Like it or not, our way of doing business has changed. Our local economy is different now, and our attitudes should be too.

We have certainly entered into a new age: The Information and Knowledge Age. Geographic distance doesn't seem to matter as before. The adage of "work smarter, not harder" definitely applies. Ironically, the ever-expanding internet fosters many new opportunities, while also eliminating many others. It's creative destruction.

We no longer buy locally either. Big box stores, franchises, and the internet make sure of that. All have the end of their vacuum hoses into smaller communities; you can hear the suction of money out of our community and into the various places where these corporate headquarters of the world reside. How will our community's collective bucket of wealth ever fill up -- let alone overflow -- if we allow more to be siphoned out than we put in it? http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathe...

While many residents may not want to be self-employed, business organizations today -- and going forward -- will likely be much smaller and made up of possibly only a few employees with strong entrepreneurial attitudes. In a word: nimble. After all, they have to be to survive in this changed world.

Not to be misunderstood, being an employee is not inherently bad or to be avoided, but acceptance that times have changed is a must. Interestingly, history appears to be repeating itself, as we all return to being in charge of our own destinies again just like the pioneering people of this country.

Employers will not be the closely-hovering parents of years gone by, providing for our every need from cradle to grave. That point is apparent even from the changes in retirement plans: the "defined benefit" plans or yesterday have become the "defined contribution" plan of today. This has shifted risk from the company to the employee because it was up to the company to put enough money back to make good on their promises of retirement, but now the burden in squarely on the employee -- save the corporate match up to a certain percentage, if offered.

With that said, we can continue to lament our plight, or we can do something about it.
The route taken thus far has been, for lack of better words, chasing large smoke stacks. This could also be called "whale hunting," as we could feast for long time after landing just one huge fish, but we all starve in the meantime without a catch too. So far, as you already know, no big catch. The only thing keeping up our large girths is all of the fast food.

The thought-process has not been completely absurd, though, because it has been aimed at putting that initial spark into the economy, hoping it will ignite. Without more decent, well-paying jobs, who will be able to support the small businesses we've all been asked to support? We need the spark that will light the fire, but it hasn't been found yet. What will it eventually be? Without it, small stores and shops struggle and cannot add to the local economy, including much-needed jobs. It's a catch-22 situation.

How will we stand out from the thousands of small communities across the nation claiming to be "good places to live and raise a family"? Embracing and successfully marketing our unique assets will surely be one of the keys, it seems. The geography, natural resources, and low costs of living and doing business may be some of these assets, but collectively identifying others will be very valuable. That is, if it is even the correct path to take. Maybe simply casting more and more nets will eventually land that big catch we need to get things rolling.

Perhaps, embracing rural life instead of smoke stacks is a better route because "success" and "rural" are not necessarily mutually-exclusive words.

http://gcdailyworld.com/blogs/chriswathen/entry/14889/ It also respects and maintains our way-of-life, which seems to be a more honest approach.

In the end, only time will tell.