If you really want to read some horror stories about what long-term unemployment is doing to some people in America, you should go spend an hour or two over at Unemployed-Friends
some time. It is a great forum with a lot of great resources for the
unemployed, but it also contains dozens and dozens and dozens of
heartbreaking stories from middle class Americans who have had their
lives shattered by this economic downturn.

The following is a typical story on Unemployed-Friends. It is from a 48 year old Air Force veteran who has lost everything and is now sleeping in his vehicle. It turns out that Scott48's job was
shipped off to India and now he has been out of work for over two
years....

"I am a 48 year old USAF Vet. I got my house in 1996 with the help of the VA. In 2009 the company I worked for went out of buisness(gone to India) I then became a 99er. I notified Wells Fargo
that I lost my job and they said they would work with me, the next
mortgage statement I got they conveniently increased my mortgage! With
what I got from UE was enough for the house but I had to cut out the
luxury of food, gas, utillities, insurance, entertainment and alcohol.
That was it for me, so the forecloser ball was in motion. I had to give
my dog to my cousin so he would get fed, I took everything I owened to
the auction( execpt tools, clothes, pictures, tech manuals and my
Saxophone) and sold it. I went to a half-way house the VA recomended for
a week and it was joke, so my cousin said I could stay with her. After
4 months she diecided that I wasnt looking hard enough and kicked me
out, and Ive applied for everything except selling myself. This summer I
was staying in an abandoned house due to forecloser and the real
estate company has now put it on the market, and I am now on the street
sleeping in my vehicle or a friend here and there. Keeping clean is
going to be a challenge cuz the Flying J truck stops charge $10 for a
shower, rip-off. What a country!"

The truth is that this economy is driving many Americans to the brink of desperation. Even recent college graduates are becoming desperate enough to actually consider suicide. The following story is from an Unemployed-Friends user known as 08pacollegegrad....

"I could just take any job like working at fast food places, but I hear people who try can't even get hired there. I went to Wendy's for lunch the other day and I thought of picking up an application...but
the slot where they keep the applications was completely empty. That
should say it all. Plus, I feel like if I take just any job...I will be
set back further and never be able to gain experience in my chosen
fields.

I follow up on job applications, but employers ignore me for the most part when I try to contact them. I sent five follow up e-mails last week and got no responses. I contacted an employer expressing my
interest in working for them, but all they gave me is the link to their
online application system that I have never gotten a job from.

I am thinking of applying for more internships (I have already done two), but I don't want employers to think why I am applying for an internship when I should have had a full fledged job by now.

I have almost killed myself over my situaion and am taking anti-depressants right now. I see a psychiatrist every 4-6 weeks, but I still have days where I feel so empty. I am sick of sitting at home
searching for jobs and praying for a response that never comes."

Many Americans spend day after day after day looking for a job that never comes. The sense of hopelessness that can build after doing this for a few years is almost indescribable. The following is another
incredibly sad story from an Unemployed-Friends user known as feuxdejoie....

"I lost my job in June 2008, my husband was working but sentenced to prison for 4 years, for DUI, no accidents or injuries. I had been using my unemployment to pay bills but my last check came June 12, 2010.
I'm alone and scared. The city that I live in has the highest
unemployment in the State, Illinois. Our children are grown and I sit
alone all day searching for jobs. My husband can only call once a month
because of the outrageous rates for telephone calls. I'm at the end of
my rope and don't know where to turn if they don't pass a tier V for
unemployment or open up some jobs.
I turned 50 in April and had worked all of my life, starting at age 14 with a work permit! My
employer stated to me that they needed someone bilingual and terminated
me even after I told them that I would take classes to learn. I
signed up for college and began classes in January then unemployment
told me that I wasn't elgible for unemployment while attending school."

There are millions of Americans who believe that their lives are over because they can't get decent jobs. When you lose your job, your home, your car, your health insurance and then finally your
unemployment insurance runs out, it is easy to lose all hope as an
Unemployed-Friends user named Ember has done....

"so i feel pretty much hopeless. been unemployed since July 2008. in over two years i haven't even been called for an interview. tired of looking and applying for jobs outside of my field that require
experience i don't have. it's all for naught. i have two bachelor of
science degrees. my BS degrees, cuz that's what they're worth. since
losing my job i've gotten divorced. lost my house. lost my health
insurance. totalled my car and sustained chronic back pain. and moved in
with my mom. and did i mention, when all this started i was a new mom,
just back from maternity leave? so (now) i'm raising a toddler on my
own, with no income. my unemployment insurance ran out a few weeks ago. i
don't even know what to do now. i just want to disappear. i'm tired of
trying. i'm tired of being a burden on everyone. if i didn't have the
responsibility to take care of my child i wouldn't be around anymore."

This final example is from an Unemployed-Friends user identified as Faith1028. Be warned that this one will shake you to your core if you have any sensitivity at all. As you read this, keep in mind that this
kind of thing is literally happening to millions of Americans these
days....

"HI, y'all! This is my story. I'm from Chicago.

I lost my job 11.06.09 - I did my best to remain positive & confident that I would get a job by the end of November.

December 2009 - Still no job. I'm getting food stamps (LINK card) & Unemployment Benefits. Not much money at all, but I'm surviving. Thanks to all this stress, my stomach has been burning and/or been
painful daily for all December. I puked my guts out on the 26th.

January 2010 - My stomach is still hurting every day. I had to close out my savings account. I haven't told my slumlord or my fellow tenants that I lost my job; I go on pretending I'm still going to work
everyday. Unfortunately on the 26th, I got my eviction notice. I called
the office to ask why. The response was "I don't know." I became
hysterical. I've no job, no money, no family/friends to help. (I have
many *relatives*, but no *family*.) I truly believed my only alternative
was suicide. I wanted to say good-bye to my brother (my only sibling),
but we haven't spoken to each other for over 4 years; I no longer have
his address/phone number. I found him on Facebook. I didn't bring up
my situation because I felt he wouldn't care. We exchanged a few
messages and that was it. I haven't heard from him since. Good
riddance.

February 2010 - Someone found a family that I can stay with for only $250/month! My own room! They turned out to be aquaintances of mine. Vegetarian, too! At least I have a place to stay. I'd rather live
alone, but, hey, I'm desperate! -- And I'm not too crazy about the
bedbugs. OW!

June/July 2010 - Thanks to daily/nightly use of citrine crystals since 30 May, I have no more stomach problems!
Thanks to weekly use of a natural (green!) pesticide from PlusNaturalEnzymes.com, I no longer have a problem with bedbugs!
However...
Mid-June, my Unemployment Benefits ran out. Of course, I'm still looking for a job! What am I supposed to do - put a gun to
someone's head and force them to hire me? As of this date, I have $12
left to my name; $0 in my chequeing account. I recently reapplied for
and am now receiving food stamps. Before I got my food stamps back,
I've eaten whatever (Vegetarian!) food I can get, even stuff I'm
allergic to. As a result, I've become sick: cold-like symptoms, pain in
lower intestines...and a rash over my arms, legs, & neck. Oh, does
it itch! At least my food allergies are not life-threatening.
Needless to say, my depression has gotten worse.

I am really trying hard to remain positive -- and alive.
But why? Is it really all worth it?

I haven't paid July's rent, and the people I'm staying with are getting very *impatient*; I fear I'll be evicted again! The money is coming! It's not my bloody fault!

Someone on Twitter sent me a link to this site. I know I'm not the only one suffering; some folks have already committed suicide. I don't want to die, but I don't want to be homeless, either. I am so
bloody scared.
Just give me money that my tax dollars paid for!
--Or better yet: GIVE ME A BLASTED JOB!!"

The really sad thing is that there are countless other stories just like these being posted all over the Internet all the time.

People are hurting.

People are losing hope.

So how did we get here?

Well, it turns out that the "haves" have figured out that they really don't need the "have nots" after all. Incredible advances in technology have increasingly enabled employers to replace humans with
machines and computers. In addition, as we have detailed previously,
millions upon millions of middle class American jobs are being shipped
off to China and to dozens of third world nations where workers
are more than happy to work for less than a tenth of what an American
worker would make.

All of those jobs that have been lost to technology and that have been sent overseas are not going to come back. The hordes of long-term unemployed that we are seeing now is just the beginning. It is going
to get a lot worse.

So the next time you hear a hard luck story from an unemployed American, don't look down on that person.

You might be next.