Charles:  Those family wage jobs were lost to outsourcing and, for those which remained (and remain in our country) to the never-ending quest for "productivity." Productivity is the measure of output per work hour, and you increase it, primarily, by having fewer workers.  You accomplish that with the matching ever-increasing automation of production.  A "faller-buncher" can, in a day, do a weeks work of a logging crew.  A highly automated mill can produce far more lumber with far fewer workers than was ever the case with previous mills.  The same is true for every industry with a "manual" labor component.  As you say, this should not be "breaking news" to anyone.  Blaming the loss of jobs on "those damn Mexicans stealing the jobs", or those damn "tree-huggers" is a convenient emoltional outlet, but it is both inaccurate and unfair.  Face it, as you note, those "high-paying" hard-working, but low skill jobs, are a thing of the past.  Sad,  but true.  regards to you, Sir.....Gary Crum