Are we doomed to repeat the past?

[Youngstownshrimp]

TT, you are a very astute person.

[Towntalk]

Ron my friend, and you are my friend, don't be sad, and don't be blue, things are looking up, and the defeat of the so called citizens bill of rights is just one example as the puzzle unfolds before us, the views of the reactionary crowd not withstanding. In Columbiana County a huge shale complex is being built, and here in Mahoning County, another will be built this year, and I suspect that the reactionaries are gritting their teeth down to nubbins as they watch our future springing up right before their eyes, helpless to stop it.

They get their fifteen minutes of fame, only to be religated to the ash heap of losers.

Remember the Occupy Youngstown crowd? What did they accomplish? Nothing, except to give us a few posts.

This is the track record of all reactionaries, and while the media gives them their fifteen minutes of fame, life goes on and they are long forgotten as new stories of greater importance takes their place.

I know that it galls us when they pop up like maggots on a dead bird, but once they have their fill they die off and we're no worse for their coming and going. Oh it stinks while they are here, but even that goes away in due time.

[Youngstownshrimp]

Yeah we're doomed as long as 30% of the population requires full support from the workers of America.

[Towntalk]

One word of caution when it comes to our fledgling high tech industry ... it's not going to get a lot of PR, nor will it produce thousands of jobs, nor will it produce jobs for unskilled labor. This is where YSU comes in to produce the manpower, and even then since these are new ventures comparatively speaking for Youngstown, we can't expect Youngstown to become another Seattle over night. It will take time and patience, but in the end it will be well worth it.

Looking back in history, Youngstown didn't become a steel giant over night. It had it's fits and starts like any other industry, and today, we still produce steel using modern methods that were unheard of 75 years ago, nor is our sky dark with the smoke and soot of the past. As the gas and oil industry here grows the demand for the products produced by V&M Star Steel will also grow, and with that growth will come a demand for more workers earning wages that were unthinkable of even during the war years.

[Billy Mumphrey]

Ok, thanks. I sure hope so.

[Towntalk]

Billy, gas and oil are but one piece of the puzzle, a very important one to be sure, but just one. Youngstown is also becoming a high tech center with the Youngstown Incubator and YSU in the lead. Already products being manufactured by one local high tech company has world wide sales. Another new local company in the high tech field will be manufacturing parts that will be used everywhere from construction, to the auto industry, to avation, to military applications, and beyond. We are diversifying because today, unlike the past we know that we can't put all our eggs in one basket.

[Billy Mumphrey]

Many times on this forum folks compare the latest gas/oil fracking boom to the birth of the steel industry in the valley. My question is, will the current leaders of the area now put all their eggs into this gas/oil drilling boom like our elders did with the steel industry? When the shale boom ends in 3,5,10,15, or 20 years, will the valley be in the same shape it was from 1977 until now?