That’s a lot!

I couldn't help but think of the 11 million people that are now 'officially' out of work. That's a big number so I decided to put it in perspective. A perspective that I could understand.

9,948,081 was the estimated population of Los Angeles County in 2006 so I'm going to make a wild guess and say that it's probably pretty close to 11 million people now, almost three years later. That number also represents the number of Americans that officially don't have a job. So if you can imagine getting in a rental car at LAX and then getting on the northbound 405 freeway, all of those people you saw around you would be out of work. You pass through Santa Monica and Westwood; you can see Beverly Hills off to the right and on a clear day you can even see the Civic Center. And all of the houses and high-rises you see would be filled with the unemployed. Further north, as you crest the Sepulveda Pass you can see the San Fernando Valley spread out before you, filled with the unemployed as far as you can see. Then further north, to Newhall, Castaic and over to Lancaster, Palmdale and then back in, but going east this time along the Foothill Freeway, all of the houses you see on the right are the homes of the unemployed. It's the same on the left, there just aren't as many. Take that freeway all of the way out to the 605 and then head west towards Long Beach. Lots of cars and lots of houses out here and all filled with the unemployed. Turn north once you meet the 405 freeway and drive through the South Bay cities on your way back to LAX and a plane out of there. You've driven about 150 miles and seen about 1/10^th of where the population lives. And think of them as all being unemployed.

You can create the same scenario with any major population center. Let's see, Chicago and Cook County has a population of 5,288,655 so just double that number. New York City only has 8 million people so you would have to throw in some boroughs to get to 11 million. And all out of work; officially.