The pattern of life itself has changed for a chunk of the world’s population

A new defensiveness about employment is changing the way America looks at jobs, illegals, and outsourcing overseas.

One state has banned companies which engage in outsourcing from getting any state business. Seven other states now limit the activities of outsourcing companies.

The great thing about promising change is that life often fulfils the promise even if you don’t. Back when Barack Obama first started to talk about change, nobody anticipated the negatively transformative disasters of the last few months. It’s not just that the banks — here and overseas — are now kept alive on state infusions. It’s not just that construction has ground to a halt in this country and that house values have tanked. Or that pension funds, according to a leaked departmental document, are due to collapse in the next few months.