So, the problem is a serious problem. Not for most of those with college degrees, and not for those, with or without a degree, who are creative, innovative, serious self-starters.
But our society will not thrive if those are the only people with work to do and money to spend.
Here is the passage that puts it into perspective. It is from Robert Reich, from his book Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future:
The problem was not simply the loss of good jobs to workers in foreign nations but also automation… Remember bank tellers? Telephone operators? The fleets of airline workers behind counters who issued tickets? Service station attendants? These and millions of other jobs weren’t lost to globalization; they were lost to automation. America has lost at least as many jobs to automated technology as it has to trade.
Do you remember the old days, when you paid a toll to drive on a highway? I mean, you paid it in cash, and if you did not have the exact change, you paid it to a human being. She (frequently, a she) would make your change. It may not have always been a challenging, fun job. But it was a job! And the people who worked at such jobs left work and participated in the great bargain. Reich again:
Henry Ford understood the basic economic bargain that lay at the heart of a modern, highly productive economy. Workers are also consumers. Their earnings are continuously recycled to buy the goods and services other workers produce. But if earnings are inadequate and this basic bargain is broken, an economy produces more goods and services than its people are capable of purchasing. (Global trade complicates this bargain but doesn’t negate it).
When there is not work for the “common people,” (and by the way – there are a whole lot of those “common people” out there – as I said, we’ve got serious trouble), the bargain is broken, and the economy is in deep, serious trouble.
First Friday Book Synopsis 
Where have the Jobs Gone? Where will the Jobs be?
This is no lie when I tell you. Every day, I think of simple yet needed every day needs. This is not a Rocket Science.
The following list demonstrates my line of thinking.
Bridges in my City of Dallas and Bridges around the world. I have been told by a very reputable Engineer of the Dallas Bridge fact. This is no lie about many bridges in Dallas need serious repair. Here is a Job for fellow Americans. We need Engineers for this task. We need construction workers. We need Work Order Clerks to order by automation the supplies if the engineer and construction worker foreman are not ordering supplies themselves. We need lawyers for liability issues. We need CPA’s and Accountants and Accounting Clerks to keep accurate on target budgets. Project managers to keep timelines on the work schedules to be met.
China Factor – In America
China’s economy is driven by the consumption of Americans. If it not for Americans disposable want it right now, China would not be the wealth it is today. China does not make up anything in America. China is not the super financial power over Americans. Only America and Americans are our own super power of wealth. We create the standards of what other countries aspire to be. Yes, other countries have their power. Other countries that are ruled by another – that simply put is not fair. Every country needs the Political Will of its People to Govern themselves. It is the lack of the Political Will that keeps a country poor.
Thank you for listening. Expect more from me in the short future. By the way, Randy, that was an excellent program at the December 2011 that you put on.
Cynthia Lucas