THE CULTURAL DEFICIT OF THE UNEMPLOYED
                                             July 9, 2012

  Due to lack of funds……The unemployed and the under-employed suffer a social interaction deficit as they no longer can participate in social activities that were before (meaningful), not only to the unemployed, but for society as a whole. The normal, though divers, commonality of the social order begins to erode as unemployment rises and leads to a new, “Forced”, cultural identity that crosses many of the social bounders that would otherwise exist.

  As unemployment climbs, even the normal moderate cost of social interaction becomes intolerable not only for families but single individuals alike.  Money that was once spent to pay fees, dues, transportation cost, equipment for sports, tickets and other cost associated with leisure and cultural interaction, now must be spent on procuring the basic household necessities.

  What we see now….and even more so, as we move forward into the “Global Economic Melt Down”, is the gulf between the rich and the poor expanding further and further creating what some would call a “sub-culture” of mostly urban static poor. The real problem is that the poor are no-longer a “sub-culture” but are by far, the main cultural strata even if many refuse to identify with their new social grouping. As poverty increases, social identity choices become fewer and fewer.

                                                                      

   The question that concerns me most is what the long term effects of this diminished cultural exposer will have upon our society. This issue will probably be the most devastating disfigurement that “First World” countries have ever known, as many millions of people are being push out of what is considered Main Stream and into the social corral of poverty. With the NOW limited access to what was otherwise a diverse cultural social structure, Society as a whole will be pushed backwards many hundreds of years. What has taken so long to achieve…….now stands at the abyss of poverty.

  Unlike many Third World countries, most aspects of our cultural exposer are tie directly to the over-all economic health of the nation. This is a result of capitalization, whereas every part of culture is seen as a commodity to be bought and sold without regard for the effect it may have upon the very structure that allows for economic growth in the first place. Once the economy recedes, so does ones ability to share in cultural exchange.

  The long term effects that increasing poverty has upon society can readily be seen throughout modern history. While some will see these effects as a major threat….others will see them as an opportunity for social change…..with the ability to forester support for revolution increasing with the decline of economic and cultural prospects.

  For every human process……there is a beginning, and so it is with revolution as the beginning of the end always starts with a cultural imbalance. The price to be paid for social change is most often very high, I can see no way in which the next American Revolution can escape the growing pains that have always occurred.