Like George Clooney and friends in the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" we are on all on a journey, one that is as trying and challenging as the Odyssey attributed to Homer and adapted by the Coen brothers. What has happened to our lives, which have been so drastically altered by economic circumstances?

Unemployment numbers touted in the media and by the government are fairly meaningless when a significant portion of the working population is either underemployed, has stopped looking for work or is not considered for positions. Probably the jobless rate is closer to 20 percent to 22 percent. A significant number of consumers are out of the market for cars, goods and housing.

Just a couple of years ago, my peer group (seasoned men and women), purchased homes, cars, started our own businesses, built professional relationships, worked in our communities and supported our families. During the past four years there has been not just the mortgage meltdown but a culmination of 20 years of exporting of jobs, plants and entire industries overseas. The business model that built this country has been devastated through the flattening of information due to Windows, large databases and Internet services, rendering a major segment of our population irrelevant and underutilized.

How do we continue going to networking meetings, job fairs and "cattle call" interviews only to be told: overqualified, the budget is not there today, the hiring manager has "gone in a different direction."

We watch the political and media pundits wax eloquent on the so-called new economy - minus strong unions, minus new plants and equipment for projects (why invest in new plants, when you can import parts from China or India?). What happened to an economy where real economic expansion translated into a rising tide of incomes and opportunities?

We invested in GM and Chrysler, yet the very consumer who would be purchasing a vehicle from them is unable to even consider a new car unless his income is near six figures. Not many of the over-50 crowd (assuming they are working) are able to qualify for a new or used car, because they're either not working or working at hourly jobs below their skill-set.

President Barack Obama and his economic team have done a masterful job at resurrecting our economy from a near-death experience. But how does he convince the corporate leaders to send the message out to stop the unfairness? The business community is paying lip service to the issue of employing skilled people. They only have to send the message to the hiring managers, telling them to get serious and really consider skilled men and women who are seasoned, very active and ready to contribute.

We watch movies about social networking, yet little excitement is encountered watching adults at a job networking meeting or struggling to connect with employers. Yes, there are Facebook, LinkedIn and others. But that is transitory networking, where people are screened out by a 20-something with little work or life experience who will make judgments based on a social Web page. This is a sad time in America, being reduced to a screen-shot evaluation.

So many of us feel the frustration of being discarded for playing by the rules - believing in doing our jobs right, investing in our plants and equipment, looking to hire good men and women to build a company and a community. Why is this vision and value system treated as quaint, or a business model from another age?

Chinese investors believed in their business model, Brazilians believed, Indians believed, and they are marching forward. We must maintain our status, if not as leader of the free world, at least as a beacon of hope to all in America and those seeking its rewards.