Joblessness is a path toward isolation when a support system is not in place. Even back in 2007 many of us began commenting upon a feeling that a dark cloud was coming over our personal economies. There were spikes in food and rental housing along with the usual "can't get used to high fuel prices". In the fall of 2008 when that cloud enveloped most of us, a few simply shrugged their shoulders and thought, "so what's new?"
Lower income classes are made up of people who don't connect to the high rollers of finance and certain industries. Slogging along generation after generation almost was good enough until waning job-based retirement futures began taking hold of many who thought their employment was sound. Many asked, "what happened to company loyalty? What did I do to lose a job with good benefits? I was loyal and got screwed!" Trust is one of the first of several powerful emotions to begin waning as well. Hope hangs on, but cynicism creeps in.
Social isolation is not a planned destination. Personal financing of staying a visible neighbor sometimes is just too overwhelming. A sense of community can be lost in a shorter time when the very definition of belonging is stripped. In an age of independence "I can't afford to go there" became "I feel lost to it all". Community shouldn't be what I make of it; it should be what we all make of it together, and we need to discover it again.
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