In this process, the middle class and the poor face increasing financial pressures. Traditional jobs in agriculture, manufacturing and service industries are phased out through corporate restructuring . Chains and franchises replace local small businesses.
Agribusiness eliminates family farms and small towns.
Almost invisibly, yet inexorably, the local economy loses its ability to meet the basic needs of its people. This process damages not only a community s self-reliance, but also its families. Divorce rates soar. Many children do not receive the care they require. These children will remain unskilled the rest of their lives.