I worked in industry and engineering for many years. Thirty-five years ago a movement began, supported and encouraged by government, to convert our economy from manufacturing durable goods to a service industry. Good paying jobs with benefits were sacrificed for low paying jobs with no benefits. The word of the day was offshore, with these manufacturing jobs sent to China. It was very profitable for corporations to take advantage of their low cost labor. What is the result?

Our country is crippled by debt. Millions live in poverty dependent on a bankrupt government, millions are unemployed due to having had to work in a vulnerable service industry crippled by COVID now begging that government for help. The rich have become richer thanks to that government, which helps its friends while the rest of us hope for help. We see people in lines by the thousands waiting for a box of food to help feed their family, something not seen since the Depression. Hospitals are filled with the sick and dying.

Now we are in the worst situation since the Great Depression. What is our government’s response to this? Print more money and give it to their friends on Wall Street. Make them richer still. For proof, people can look at the stock market and see how it has soared while their prospects have declined toward poverty.

We do not have a government — only a bunch of self-serving politicians interested in the next election cycle. They have failed us.

Lawrence Everett, West Paris

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