Well, gas production is generating thousands of jobs, and they're still 10 years from really ramping all the way up to where they want to be in the Marcellus region. Here's my opinion. Already we are seeing signs in China that people are sick of being slaves and want better income and living standards. This is driving companies to the last bastions of slave labor, like Vietnam, or to just produce the products where they are sold in smaller factories. I read a story about five companies who are moving back to the USA, one is a GE factory that was in Louisville for decades, moved to China, and is coming right back to the factory that it left 20 years ago.
What I'm getting at is that hopefully the gas industry can help those who are really hurting in PA working until the economy starts coming back to a work-oriented economy. Right now our economy is based on manipulating the rest of the world, for the most part. I believe that there are signs that we will start to get more real work in the future.
What's the most interesting about this whole process, in my opinion, is that outsourcing and shipping jobs over seas was very heavily criticized by the masses, but endorsed by a few very highly educated people who practice something from political science called "rationalism". Typically they are aligned with Republican politicians, but not always. It stems from the associations that scholars have with our government's administrations. Rarely do the politicians actually understand what they are doing. ANYWAY, rationalism, among many other things, says that the rest of the world will have to have a higher standard of living for our economy to last. It was a very, very painful process, but I think we are just now starting to turn the corner. As fuel prices go up, it will only cement the notion further that it's cheapest just to make the products where you sell them. Let's cross our fingers for the sake of all of us, but especially those in the towns where they are boarding the places up.
I'm more concerned about the political, moral, and ethical flushing down the drain of the country right now. Economies can come back. Decayed and ruined societies will not.