All one has to do is look around. Increasing regulations, the political correctness of demonizing certain industries (i.e. tobacco, big oil, etc.) and liberal pipe dreams (green industry); are quickly destroying what we once were. Wilson, NC is a small town but very representative of the 10 points in the article. When I first moved here in '98, there were three major employers that were the linch pins for the local economy: the Bridgestone-Firestone plant; Wrangler jeans; and tobacco farms, for which Wilson was famous. In the summer, you couldn't get within a mile of downtown without smelling the oddly sweet smell of numerous tobacco warehouses.
First, tobacco was demonized out of existence. We now have only one or two warehouses left. Literally hundreds of workers were left without jobs. Then the Wrangler plant closed, leaving many more jobless. Even the Firestone plant has been threatened. We are developing a large pharmaceutical industry in the area but that is much more specialized, requiring workers with a higher education level than the tobacco or clothing manufacturing industries did. We are also becoming a bedroom community for the RDU area, but this still does not address those unskilled workers that were gainfully employed in earlier years.
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