Jobless in Ocala? Join the club friend, you’re not alone.
According to statistics, the official unemployment rate in Ocala is somewhere around ‘11.8%‘ as of October 2011, and in September alone there were “69 layoff events” contributing to the loss of approximately 4,538 jobs.
Startling to consider isn’t it?
What should be more frightening yet is the fact that these unemployment statistics aren’t actually all that dissimilar from that of the U.S. as a whole. According to the census “1 in 2″ people are considered “poor”, “low-income” or outright impoverished; in a [once great] country where the “middle class” is quickly eroding, leaving behind only the “Low-class” of the poor and the “High-class” of the wealthy.
Worse yet, Ocala is rather stagnant in the progress department. In fact, if one were to look at the total picture, Ocala is not even necessarily stagnant, but instead viciously counter productive.
Why might you ask? Probably because local business owners (not to mention the local community as a whole) don’t have enough money to stay afloat any longer, and are forced to close up shop; leaving behind a slew of empty storefronts that no one in the community has the capital to occupy.
So, what’s next?
Well, either the corporations move in and take over; giving the community the push in the direction of progress that it needs, all the while establishing greater control over, and siphoning more money from, the locals and the community as a whole.
Or
The greater local community can stand up, take responsibility and accountability for their actions, and support their local community by researching local alternatives to big business; thereby supplementing their local economy, in order to, in theory, boost the possibility of [organic] growth in the community, thereby creating more opportunities for the community, by the community.
December 15, 2011
Florida News, Marion County Florida, Ocala Jobs, Ocala News