Scrappers Dayton, Ohiio, and America turn to scrap

Book excerpt: What has the Great Recession done to us? Scrappers, a documentary in photographs with more than 50 stark and unsettling images from Dayton, Ohio, offers answers. It is about the rise of urban armies of the poor devoted to a new economic boom in scrap metal. Scrap is among the top exports from America in an age of downward mobility, deep industrial decline, unchecked globalization and political drift. This book is a vision of what we are becoming as a nation and a glimpse of a grim future we still have a chance to avoid. For sale at Blurb.com & Apple iTunes store. "A century ago, Dayton was the Silicon Valley of its age, and its decline is both astonishing and tells a broader story of what has happened to America. It's a fine work, both arresting and heartbreaking." - Jon Talton, Economics Columnist, The Seattle Times. "An illuminating look at the decline of the American manufacturing belt and how desperate citizens are cannibalizing their future just to feed their families." - Marty Steffens, Society of American Business Editors and Writers endowed chair, University of Missouri. "My friend and colleague Steve Bennish just published his first documentary project on homeless scrappers in Ohio. A fascinating set of images that highlight a previously untold vignette of the new economy and desperate times for some. Awesome!" - Larry C. Price, veteran newspaper photographer "Steve Bennish lays bare in stark photos and unfettered commentary the post-Apocalyptic existence of so many prideful working class Americans devastated by the Great Recession. 'Scrappers' is required reading for anyone who dares to take a look at the human collateral damage of three decades of trickle-down economics and U.S. tax incentives and trade agreements that ship jobs overseas." - Jim DeBrosse, longtime newspaper reporter and author of "The Secret in Building 26: The Untold Story of America's Ultra War Against the U-boat Enigma Codes."