The Closing of the Bethlehem Steel
The early 1980’s was a hard time for the working class of the city of Allentown. The closing of the Bethlehem Steel and other factories left a variety of individuals jobless and depressed. Residents knew that they had to leave the town, but they were still holding on to the glory that their parents were able to achieve there. The singer Billy Joel, in his song “Allentown” describes the struggle of the high unemployment rate, useless diplomas in the competitive job market, and the closing of the town’s main source of income making residents want to leave the town they grew up in.
The closing of many factories caused the unemployment rate to skyrocket. In the beginning of the song Joel says, “they’re closing all the factories down / out in Bethlehem they’re killing time / filling out forms / standing in line” (1-4). Everyone who has lost their job due to the closing of the factories is now being forced to spend their days in the unemployment lines. Many, try to make ends meet and provide the bare minimum for their families. The lack of available jobs …show more content…
Now, the jobs that do not require higher education are scarce after the closing of the factories and the unemployed citizens are forced to face the reality that the promises teachers made were not true. Many quickly became aware that “the graduation hangs on the wall / but they never really helped us at all / no they never taught us what was real” (19-21). Students who were not fortunate enough to grow up in a wealthy family, did not consider getting a college degree because they could not afford it. Many thought they could follow the footsteps of their parents, get by with just a high school degree and work a manual labor job at the factory. Since that was no longer an option given the limitations of the job market, citizens were left with few
The early 1980’s was a hard time for the working class of the city of Allentown. The closing of the Bethlehem Steel and other factories left a variety of individuals jobless and depressed. Residents knew that they had to leave the town, but they were still holding on to the glory that their parents were able to achieve there. The singer Billy Joel, in his song “Allentown” describes the struggle of the high unemployment rate, useless diplomas in the competitive job market, and the closing of the town’s main source of income making residents want to leave the town they grew up in.
The closing of many factories caused the unemployment rate to skyrocket. In the beginning of the song Joel says, “they’re closing all the factories down / out in Bethlehem they’re killing time / filling out forms / standing in line” (1-4). Everyone who has lost their job due to the closing of the factories is now being forced to spend their days in the unemployment lines. Many, try to make ends meet and provide the bare minimum for their families. The lack of available jobs …show more content…
Now, the jobs that do not require higher education are scarce after the closing of the factories and the unemployed citizens are forced to face the reality that the promises teachers made were not true. Many quickly became aware that “the graduation hangs on the wall / but they never really helped us at all / no they never taught us what was real” (19-21). Students who were not fortunate enough to grow up in a wealthy family, did not consider getting a college degree because they could not afford it. Many thought they could follow the footsteps of their parents, get by with just a high school degree and work a manual labor job at the factory. Since that was no longer an option given the limitations of the job market, citizens were left with few