The economy is still struggling. True. Everyone and the dog is ranting about jobs and hiring. True. Aah, but wait - can manufacturing provide an economic boost or is it just a drag and burden on the economy? If the numbers tell the truth, manufacturing has been a job killer for years and years. What else would you expect from a mature economy? After all, the USA already manufactures the best planes, trains, and automobiles right. When you are on top like that, there is nowhere else to go but down before going up again.

Ask GM about the up and down seesaw thingee. They know it oh too well...and guess what, it wasn't until the massive multi-billion dollar auto industry bailout under Obama until GM actually started to do silly things like...hire employees, make a profit and well manufacture quality cars again. Of course, we can, also, thank the Japanese automakers for putting pressure on the Big Three to step it up a notch. Competition is a huge incentive to efficiency in a capitalist society. No argument there but really, besides better automobiles what else is there to manufacture that isn't already being done -- and done well. Hummh, maybe trains? There is a thought. Not only would manufacturing mass transit commuter trains be a huge step in the right direction, doing so would create jobs (lots of jobs), lower energy consumption and dependency and better people’s health. Ever been to LA? Try breathing in the extremely poor air due to the ridiculously high levels of smog.

Once more, LA incidentally was slated for a mass transit bullet train connecting to San Francisco. What happened to that project? How many jobs with that create? Consider what happen if similar projects got off the ground within other metropolitan areas. So is manufacturing a boost or economic burden? Well that depends on the approach. Speaking of which, what's the plan?

Some days the economy looks up, most other days it looks stagnant. Compound that with massive public sector budget cuts and the picture gets uglier. Much uglier. On the other hand, whether it is through hobbies or jobs, Americans will do whatever it takes to survive and pay the bills. Few Americans have faith in the direction of the economy and more importantly, few are waiting on the economy to turnaround before making personal lifestyle changes to compensate for economic shortcomings.

Basically instead of looking to companies to provide jobs, more and more would be job seekers will be looking within...within themselves to make ends meet. Essentially, more and more entrepreneurs will come online. Then for those that do not really want to make a business out of entrepreneurship, they will just simply turn to hobbies and special talents to make up for the lost income. In doing so, many will find that more cash flow is made through hobbies than working for someone else. That would be a beautiful feeling to look not to someone else's job but to a hobby for supplemental income while enjoying the work all the same. Nice!

Make no mistake about, with or without a thriving economy Americans will get it done whether through hobbies jobs or whatever pays the bills. An unexpected turn of events could very well lead to a severe labor force shortage as more and more Americans throw in the towel as far as working for someone else goes. Long live free enterprise. Go get it.

Although unemployment is trending downward, it is still not enough and not fast enough. So what's the problem? The economy itself...the private sector is simply too private to fix. Deal with it people. This is democracy at work. Isn't that what the masses wanted...to be free of government control? Well here you have it. That's not to suggest that having the government control every element of what employers can and cannot do and when they will do it. Conversely, it is simply a reflection of reality. It is what it is.

Why then do so many people fault the government when jobs are not created fast enough? Unfortunately, too many people are misinformed, miseducated, and others just simply brain dead. The private sector is called private for a reason. The Feds have little control over what goes on in the private sector. Guess what? The private sector knows that very well. Moreover, high or higher unemployment is good for the private sector. People who have jobs are scared to death to quit and put up with a lot of crap to keep a job. Wage increases are virtually unheard of during high unemployment periods. On the contrary, salary cuts are popular during high unemployment periods as is increased levels of unpaid overtime. All this translates into higher profit margins for companies at the expense of workers; most of the time middle class workers.

Wake up and smell the coffee. The private sector has little incentive to post a lot of jobs and hire a bunch of unemployed people when their doing just fine with the workers already on the payroll. If the whiners and complainers really wanted change then they would not have voted the wealthy special interest favoring officials into office during the most recent mid-term elections. Therefore, the real problem is the none other than ignorant voters. Now factor in that the private sector is simply too private to fix and you have a recipe for bad employment news for a while to come. Maybe voters will get smarter -- one day. Keep hope alive!