Most of those jobs that the economy has lost ain’t coming back.

And it has nothing to do with the jobs going to India, China, Viet Nam, or Mexico.  It has nothing to do with cities and states cutting back.  It has everything to do with how the economy has changed.  These missing jobs are gone and gone forever.

Allow me to explain with a little story….

There was a time when people got their music from CD’s.  When you bought a CD you employed the person who made the CD, who made the case, the printer, the person who made the paper and ink, the person who made the cardboard box to ship the CD’s, the truck driver,warehouseman,record store clerk,and more.  When you download your music these people will never get their jobs back.

I met a courier a year ago who told me he was making over 60K in the 80′s and 90′s.  He is lucky if he makes 25K now.  All the legal briefs, pictures, and other documents he used to deliver are now sent with the touch of a computer key.

Don’t even get me started on how many other jobs have  been lost in the newspaper industry, video tape rental industry, travel agency business and more.  These were for the most part decent paying jobs that people with minimal education could do and support their families.   These jobs aren’t coming back.

So you can argue for your jobs bill which is not much more than government busy work, or you can say the jobs aren’t there because the taxes are too high, but you are missing the point.

Until we can find new jobs for people with basic skills.  Jobs to replace all the jobs that have vanished in thin air, the job picture isn’t going to get much better.

We need new industries.  New ideas. New Entrepreneurs.  And all we get from either side is tired old rhetoric.

Personally I think a start in the right direction would be to allow the Trans-Canadian pipeline.  By building the pipeline and investing in more domestic oil production we will be opening up numerous jobs for decent paying construction and manual labor workers.  Replacing jobs that have vanished in thin air.

We may never get the nationwide unemployment down to the 3-4% level ever again, but I know that if we don’t stop looking at the jobs picture through the old prism and start looking at it in a new way we will never solve the problem at all.

But it doesn’t come without a price.

People that have lived a quiet, peaceful, life in towns like Wiliston and other small western North Dakota towns are having a tough time adjusting to the new booming environment.  Many have sold their houses and have moved out.  Elderly people that don’t want to adapt or leave, find traffic jams on their once quiet streets.  Crime has increased.  People ( primarily men ) come to town looking for work without a place to stay.  Prostitutes come to town to make some quick money from these oil workers.  While waiting for the train to take me back to Fargo I had an hour to kill so I visited the strip clubs next to the train station.  ( I didn’t really want to, but I felt it was my obligation to do research for this report.  It seems all I ever do is work, work work. )

The dancers started at 5:30 Pm and by 6 there were about 15 guys sitting by the stage throwing money at the dancers.  I can only imagine how much they make on a Saturday night when the place gets packed and these oil field workers have too much tequila and too much expendable income.

It’s safe to say that this area will never be the same again.

But the growth is manageable.  And the problems solvable.

While there is a housing shortage and workers are living in man camps, I saw at least 3 good sized motels being built in the short time I was there.  Houses and apartment complexes are being built too.  The tax revenue being generated by the drilling and the increased retail sales will fund the improved infrastructure that will be needed to handle the traffic, sewage, crime, and other issues facing a booming community.

Williston is a lot like the wild west of days gone by.  At the same time it is America’s future.

America can become energy independent again.  And if that means some traffic jams and a little more crime in North Dakota that is a small price to pay for the benefits we receive.

Write your politicians and let them know that you want the Trans Canadian pipeline built and that you support the increased drilling in the Bakken Valley.

Williston sits on top of the Bakken formation.  An area so rich in oil that by the end of 2012 it will be producing more oil than any other region in America.  The drilling is being done on private land and as such has fewer governmental agencies and red tape than other areas.  This energy boom started a few years ago and it is conceivable that when all is said and done that this region could provide over 500 billion barrels of oil.

As you can imagine this kind of rapid growth can cause both societal and environmental problems.   I went to Williston for a day just to get a feel for what was going on there.  Now I’ll be the first to admit that one day walking around and talking to the residents of Williston does not make me the ultimate expert on this topic but I do believe I can offer you some insights that you may not be getting from the rest of the media.

I took the 3:40 AM train from Fargo arriving in Williston at 11AM that morning.

While at the train station I spoke with a family that was heading back to their home in Williston.  Talking to them they were fed up with the town.  They were considering selling their home there and moving to Fargo.  They said that they could sell their home, pay off their mortgage and have enough left over to pay cash for a nice house in Fargo.  They didn’t want to leave Williston but didn’t like the changes to their town that they were seeing.  They told stories of homes that couldn’t pass code from a lender for a mortgage that were selling for 200K cash.  Many home owners were selling their homes for cash to the oil companies.  One of the major problems facing Williston and all the towns in the area is housing.  Many workers are staying in man camps outside of town and working in the oil fields.  This family I spoke with at the train station was planning on taking the money and running out of town.

After a couple of hours sleep on the train, I went to the dining car and was joined by a couple who were going to visit a family member that had a farm in the Williston area.  This farm had five wells drilled on it.  I asked them about the environmental impact these wells were having on his property.  They said it was not a problem at all.  They commented on how the oil companies did their best to make sure the environmental impact was minimal. And indeed as I looked out the window as the train rolled through the hills of western North Dakota, I could see an occasional well and an occasional man camp or building that was being used to support the oil industry.  But I didn’t see any major pollution or anything that looked like the environment was being destroyed.

When I arrived in Williston to be honest with you it was not as bad as I expected.  The train station was busy with people getting on and off the train. Imagine the scene in Titanic when they were boarding the ship but not as many people.  I’m not good at guessing but I would say probably 200-300 people getting on and off.

The town itself was having a parade.  Every year the city has a clean up week and they celebrate at the end of the week with a parade and festivities in the park.  Besides the fact that the first two businesses you see when you get off the train are strip bars ( more on that later)  it seemed liked a lot of other small towns you would find in America.  I did notice a lot of trucks that were circumventing the parade route but the town itself seemed very normal.  At times almost Rockwellian.

While walking down the street and watching the parade, I wasn’t yet sure what the parade was about, So I asked a heavily tattooed man in his 20′s to explain the reason for it.  After he did I asked him for his story.  He told me we was from Portland and he had moved to Williston about 9 months ago.  I asked him if he worked in the oil field and he said no that he was on a 9 month furlough from the military.   Later as I walked down the streets of Williston I thought to myself that nobody moves to Williston if they’re not looking for work.  I wished I would have asked him more questions.  Was he involved in illegal activity?  Was he running from something?  What would bring someone to this area if not work?  I went back through the parade crowd to try to find him to ask him more questions but he was gone.

I spent the day walking the streets of Williston.  I didn’t rent a car or go out to the oil fields.  That will be for another day.  I wanted to get a feel for the people and the town and I felt that would be best accomplished if I walked, observed, and spoke to people at coffee shops, restaurants and bars.

Walking down the highway leading to the Walmart on the outskirts of town I saw a hair styling salon about a block down the road.  I needed  a haircut and thought I would stop in there and get some great stories from the stylists and their customers.  But they were closed. They closed every Saturday and Sunday.  I could only imagine how good business must be that would allow a styling salon to close on the weekends.

They were one of the only businesses closed though.  Most were open for business and booking.

One place I had to visit was the Walmart in Williston.  This legendary Walmart where the story goes they don’t even stock the shelves. They just put the stuff on pallets and people grabbed what they could.  I expected to find something like an open farmers market in the middle east somewhere with people fighting over merchandise and trying to get the supplies they needed to live.  I had this image of a cross between the wild wild west and a 5 am sale at the mall the day after Thanksgiving.

What I found was entirely different.  What I found was the biggest Walmart I had ever seen.  And inside it looked much like any other Walmart with  a couple of notable exceptions….

I’ll talk about my trip to Walmart in Part 2 of this 3 part series…

A history lesson in the divide of philosophies.