Whose not counted?

At Church today I met two very interesting people.  The first, a young black women in her thirties, looking to start her own business. The other, a gentleman in his fifties, worn face, long silver beard and hair. The Rector brought these two to meet me during the coffee hour as they both shared with me that Big Easy Connection. The conversation drifted to unemployment and governing policies relating to jobs creation. No, I did not push this but was interested in their thoughts. Yes, my new found friends, especially that of my silver haired fellow caused me to dig a bit deeper into my own mind as to the solutions for the issues of today.  This gentleman, down on his luck, simply getting by, wants to move back home to the Gulf.  Unfortunatly he cannot seem to find a job, long enough in duration that will allow him to make enough to move back home. I found my new silver haired friend to be of deep intellect, well thought out and guiding our conversation in an unexpected direction.  He, I believe accurately, placed responsibility for today's economic woes squarely on both sides of the political aisle. His observation was simple.  The work is there. Companies are ready to invest and hire.  The government won't release job creating work ntil such time that it feels the political environment will pay for it. Hum, that causes many questions.  Then my new found friend did the unmentionable.  We began talking about the unemployed that simply didn't want to work. He brought up a new class of citizen.  A person that just feels beaten .  Not unable to work, not unwilling to work.  Just tired and beaten.  They aren't depressed.  They are simply tired.  They have tried for so long.  They did well when times were good and they did well when times weren't.  Now that times are bad, they have been trying for two, three or more years, they are just too tired to try any more.  This is a subject I may delve into more over time.  It represents the worst in our society. You see, as society I believe we are looking for nice and easy black and white solutions. Oh and yes, we want those solutions now.  After all, we're in the internet age.  Everything is now. To bad life isn't that easy, and again as I say, the answer is grey.