I Went Back to Ohio...And My State Was GONE!

Eh, oh, way to go...Ohio!

Thanks Crissy Hyne, you said it all.

I'm an Ohio boy...born, raised, left, returned to Ohio. When I was a kid, we were the industrial/agricultural "engine" in the heart of America. Now, we're the land of losers, whiners, gutless, ball-less, mindless, heartless wonders. All sitting here want to blame someone else for our loser mentality. We take all the wrong risks, choose all the wrong leaders, call all the wrong bluffs, bluff on all the wrong hands, we are LOOOOSSSSEEERS. And we seem to like it that way.

Look at our sports teams. They reflect our utter loserness. Last time an Ohio team had a "championship"? The Ohio State Buckeye's football team you say? Hmmmmm, with the talent they've had over the last 20 years...ONE, only ONE national championship, merely accents our loser mentality.

Wake up Ohio...your state, economy is dead. Not government will save you from this. Nothing but radical change will save you. Industry/manufacturing...is DEAD! Hello, and it isn't coming back. Billions of third-world slave-labor people, would KILL to make 1-100th of what you make Ohio. And they DO. You have no chance, no ability to compete. They are moving from sticks and dirt shacks, to nice rough-hewn wooden floors. It's a MAJOR improvement for them. You, on the other hand, still listen to Union Labor reps, telling you that you'd rather lose your job making $80k/year, with that fine GED you earned in the Army, than pay 10% of our health insurance costs to save the company enough money to refab your factory (Timken).

Face it, our time has come and gone, and unless we completely change our expectations, and focus, we're going to do nothing but ROT here in Ohio over the next decade.

So...what about high-tech? What about the information age future?

Well, I'm a high-tech worker. I work in Information Technology, as a senior tech leader...an "architect". I'm also a closet entreprenure. I want to help START a tech company in Ohio. Guess what? No capital is available in Ohio for software technology. Now, if I were manufacturing computer equipment, maybe. But Ohio seems to be fixated on things we can build out of metal and silicon. Software? What is THAT? How do I employ Johnny, the simpering drunk, high-school-drop-out, to manufacture that? The answer is, that you DON'T. You sober Johnny up, tell him to go back to tech-school. Learn to program, tech-write, operate computers...do SOMETHING that someone wants done in 2008, and you point out he needs to do THAT if he wants a job.

What do WE do? We elect a liberal Governor, that tells Johnny, its ok...we'll take care of you...and they, they don't.

We deserve whatever we get here in Ohio.

Eh, oh, way to go Ohio!

Regards,

Doc