The Growing Divide Between Silicon Valley And Unemployed America
The divide isn't between SV and the unemployed, but between the educated and uneducated.  From politifact:http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/aug/...For those with less than a high school diploma, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 13.8 percent during July. For those with a high school diploma but no college, the rate was 10.1 percent. For those with some college experience but no college diploma, the rate was 8.3 percent. And for those with an undergraduate degree or better, the rate was 4.5 percent. That's less than one-third of the rate for high-school dropouts -- and it's exactly as Tyson said it was....These aren't exactly comparable, since BLS does not release seasonally adjusted figures for those with advanced degrees. But we'll provide them anyway. The unadjusted July rate for those with masters' degrees was 4.9 percent. For those with professional degrees, it was 2.0 percent, and for those with doctorates, it was 1.9 percent.Technology has always disrupted the low end of the workforce.  The big difference this time around is just how fast the disruption has occurred.  It took years for farm equipment advances to remove the need for farmhands or cars to remove the need for people who do horse shoes.  The internet and computers in general have put entire types of work seemingly out of business overnight.The 'new' economy is one where everyone will need to take control of their careers and constantly be thinking long term.  The downside of this sort of economy is that the people who have no ambition will suffer.  The upside is that those with ambition have an easier time than ever to try out their ideas and have huge upside potential.