The dark time was the last eight years!
Actually it started in the 70's with changes in corporate law and hit really hard in the last 8 years. If our government doesn't make some serious changes in corporate law, the dark times will only get worse.
We're they only country in the world that ships our jobs overseas, brings in foreigners to do jobs here AND let's illegals come in and take low paying jobs from our poor population.
When my job was sent to India, I offered to go with it, I was good at it, and I could live a lot better on $4.00 an hour in India than I can on $8.50 an hour here. But of course, those jobs were for THEIR citizens, they weren't going to let an American take a job from an Indian citizen.
The free trade initiatives are not free trade, they force us to allow foreign goods in without tarrifs but they are never reciprical, plus, our corporations that move to those countries don't have to follow the same laws here. Americans cannot compete with 3rd world countries until we ourselves become a 3rd world country.