The Press-Republican series just concluding today reflects a work force that has been alternately shocked, angry, deeply disappointed and confused.
For the veteran workers, how do you find a job, in a new company and perhaps in a completely new field, after laboring in the same environment for decades? For workers in their 50s or 60s, how do you convince a prospective employer that you're worth the investment for a limited number of years of employment? For the young, how do you get started, and will you ever be able to be settled enough to buy a home and raise a family?
These are questions that are unavoidable for the newly unemployed. But one element rose to the surface through the series — most of the people suddenly thrust into an urgent fight for survival have an indomitable spirit that they will prevail in spite of the immediate crisis.
Unemployment raises new doubts. Will we have to move? If we move, will we be any better off than we are here? If we stay in hopes a new opportunity will emerge, how long do we have before we run out of money?
Most of the people, though, retain their faith that things will work out, and they have dedicated themselves to making sure that happens, no matter what it takes.
It's reminiscent of the spirit North Country residents showed when the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission chose to shut down Plattsburgh Air Force Base in favor of McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. There were days of commiseration and bitterness, but they quickly gave way to a strong determination to make the best of a bad situation.
A committee formed from within the community to investigate what needed to be done and how to do it. Now, 15 years after the base closed, civilian companies abound where the Air Force was for five decades. Thousands of North Country residents have worked there in a stable employment environment relying solely on corporate enterprise for their prosperity and their future.
We get the feeling that most of the people who have lost their jobs will exhibit the same valiant, irrepressible determination that the community showed in those difficult days.
We know that some people will try to bilk the system and get into an endless string of government handouts. Some human beings are like that.
Others — the majority, by far — have pride and an enduring spirit of self-reliance and will find a way to rebuild after their disheartening and disabling loss.
The recession is temporary. We all wish we knew how temporary. But we see indications of escape. Almost every day on our business pages we are reporting one index or another that is showing signs that America is on the road to recovery. Our business pages also show that people are betting on themselves and the economy by investing in new businesses in the North Country.
The stock market continues to make historic gains. As always, perseverance is the key. That is one quality this region has in abundance.
Opinion
March 11, 2010
EDITORIAL: Perseverance will prevail
- Editorial
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Editorial: No raise for state legislators
This is not the year for state lawmakers to look for a raise.
- Editorial: A pair of aces among the Cards
- Editorial: Nurses, aides: a breed apart
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Editorial: No raise for state legislators
- Cheers and Jeers
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Cheers and Jeers: Feb. 13, 2012
CHEERS to Peru High School teacher Kathleen Roach and Cardinal Points.
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Cheers and Jeers: Feb. 13, 2012
- Letters to the Editor
- Speakout
- In My Opinion
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In My Opinion: E'town water, sewer essential
Elizabethtown has a history of economic ups and downs, Town Supervisor Margaret Bartley writes.
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In My Opinion: E'town water, sewer essential
