02/28/09 READER SUBMITTED COMMENTS: Economic meltdown will affect everyone in Greenwich

So 600,000 jobs were lost in January. Yet here in Greenwich, many are indifferent to it.

Unemployment's official number is said not too bad in Fairfield County.

Of course, if you are self-employed or haven't worked in a while, well, sorry, you just don't count.

But it really doesn't matter in this conservative bastion. The pervasive attitude of "so what, I got mine" prevails. Those still working or comfortably retired — how nice. Yet the economy is tanking.

What is the solution? How is it to be fixed? Can it be fixed? A trillion dollars is a lot of money. Wall Street has already received a bailout and apparently all we taxpayers got for that is a bunch of million-dollar bonuses paid to already overpaid executives.

I guess that's good for Greenwich.

A $1 million bonus is equal to 25 moderate-income jobs. That would be enough to sustain 25 moderate-income homes and their mortgages. The moderate-income families could keep their homes and keep spending money within their community. But, no, it's better to support trickle-down economics.

Moderate-income jobs are vanishing. They are gone — probably gone for good. The job you had that paid $18 to $20 an hour now pays about $10. We may be on the verge of class warfare. Dramatic? You bet.

If you are against any kind of stimulus package, you probably still have your job and make a living wage.

Ocean County's population is about 65,000 and some 7.5 percent — about 4,8,75 people — are unemployed. That's a lot of families. Homes lost. Cars repossessed. Local jobs lost. Businesses closed — and closing. Not to mention all the town employees who have been fired.

I realize that until this disaster hits you personally, it is irrelevant. But it will hit you. Somehow. It's just a matter of time.

Lisa

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