PLN 16

In the article “Shocking numbers” by the Rocky Mountain News what matters is how we are going to survive the crashing economy. The article explained the nation’s unemployment rate has increased to 6.7%, with 533,000 jobs lost in the month of November. That’s the highest jobless rate in 15 years. My brother lost his job a couple months ago as the company he worked for went out of business literally just closed its doors. My uncle was laid off from his job three months ago, and at my dad’s office they laid off one employee last week. The Rocky Mountain News was put up for sale last week but is likely to be shut down. So there are another 500+ employees whose jobs are in jeopardy. I live on a cul-de-sac street. There are approximately 30 homes on the street each with two working people. As I look down the row of houses, I can figure that about 4 people on my street are unemployed. The unemployment rate is up 42% from a year ago, and it seems to me it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. President elect Obama is quoted in the article as agreeing with that prediction. Yet President Bush and President elect Obama cannot come up with any solutions to this problem. Therefore it is up to us. So what can we do? We all need to have some compassion for each other. Help each other out how ever we can. Now more than ever we should observe one of the greatest commandments and love our neighbors. During the great depression the only way people survived was by relying on those around them and helping when they could. The economy now is nearly as bad as it was then but there are still quite a few people who are struggling. I heard a story of a woman who went to a place where they were auctioning off foreclosed houses a bought one of them in full then simply gave it back to the family that was living there. Not every one has that much money to spare however every little bit helps. And by pulling together and helping each other we will all be able to make it through the bumpy times.