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Wednesday, February 27. 2013Hard luck stories from the Obama economySome of these people seem clueless and inept, but for others there just isn't enough work to be done. From Unemployment Stories, Vol. 28: ‘I’m Inclined to Simply Disappear Into Silence’:
It's tough out there if you don't know how to do anything with any meaningful value and need to support yourself without a partner. Obama's mess aside, it's never been easy to make a living and, with most under-50 women being in the workplace nowadays, there are twice as many people wanting work as there were in the last generation. Relative to the population, I mean. That worked OK in a booming economy, but not in the Obama Depression. To be just slightly provocative, if all women went back to the kitchen, the garden, the home-schooling of the kids, and volunteer charity, (like Mrs. Obama), and if all Mexicans went back to Mexico, no American male would lack good work to do to support his family with dignity. One word to the wise: Start at the bottom, as I did. Nobody owes you anything just for being your wonderful self. If you want money, you have to add value to an enterprise. Trackbacks
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Fast food places may not be ideal, but they do seem to have openings all the time. And nearly every McDonald's in my area seem to advertise for managers regularly.
Hey, it's a job! :) It's attitude adjustment time for these degree-holding basement-dwellers.
First let me get this out of the way: Degree in Film? Expecting to find "a job" in film in Michigan? Oy vey!
The lack-of-job is a cause of the depression. Were this person, who in the short term has no need for income, to go volunteer 10-30 hours/week for a social service charity, then the depression would go away. The "lack of job" would also be less of a black-mark on the resume, because it could be explained away as "wanting to use my advantaged position to make a difference in the world". I love the second story: "Over the last 10 years I have had 7 different jobs all which I have been laid off from or fired due not fitting in with the culture of the companies ideas."
GET A FREAKIN' CLUE YOU MAROON!! I always marvel at people who don't realize that to have a nice middle-class life, you have to hold your nose and say "OK" to a lot of stuff that seems ridiculous. BUT, no matter where one starts out, there's always a Boss somewhere, with pretty definite ideas as to what should be done to earn what he pays, and if you are young and want experience, you just say "OK" and do it. Not only will he continue to pay you but you can actually learn stuff that way - not least of which is personal discipline.
Later on, when you have learned enough to be successful in your own business, you can create your own culture in your own company. Susan Lee Did you read this guy's entire letter?
I think he's been fed this line and is trying to make sense of it all, and take some responsibility. However, it's not clear this is accurate. He's lasted for years at some positions, and has received promotions. He's let go during broad layoffs, not being singled out for individual issues. He's trying to be a good employee, and generally succeeding. From the info given, he's not largely at fault. I feel for the guy, and it doesn't seem as though scorn and ridicule are appropriate. I don't know. He'd be glad to take one of the terrible jobs his friends are taking, but he's just too depressed? And why should he, when his parents will support him? I agree he's not being well-served by the people closest to him, but his biggest problem isn't the labor market. It's just that he's the kind of feckless worker who's always going to be hit hardest when employers aren't desperate enough to hire anyone with a pulse.
Believe me, I've been one of those people who can't fit in, and I know it's no fun. But there's no solution short of either learning to fit in somehow, or being lucky enough to have independent means. "Fitting in" is what you do when you realize you're getting paid to fill someone else's needs, not your own. You can major in film? And a bank will lend you money to do so?
Starting at the bottom is so 1950s. My middle daughter got her Anthropology degree from UCLA about 8 years ago. She was grumbling about jobs and I said, "Hey, the Army is recruiting anthropologists !"
No reaction but "ick!" So she went back to school for a masters and has a job. Her student loans will be a long time getting paid off. I pay for Bachelors degrees only. I thought the Army was a good option. I examine kids for the military a couple of days a week. One guy today was 34 with no prior service. He knows about GI Bill and stuff like that . I told him some stories about basic training 50 years ago. My youngest daughter graduates in May and is worried about a job. I told her, "Join the Marines !" Ahhh, but due to the sequestration, the Army and the Marines say they'll have to cut their force strength by 200,000! Perhaps this is just a bit of an exaggeration, however. In any case, the services are no longer the employer of last resort in this country.
list of famous USC School of Cinematic Arts grads (long, of course)
the school motto is "reality ends here" originally graffito scribbled with a marker pen over the entrance to the old facilities, bungalows that dated from post WW2. That's a good response to all who let out a weary sigh, as I did, at "I got my degree in film..."
But it's the University of Southern California, where there is a large film business. Trouble is the only limit to the number of kids who enrol in film school, is the number of kids who want to. That number will always far, far exceed the number of film school graduates the industry wants to hire. All the more so as the industry moves away from film into computer graphics. Famous? To who? I recognized three names on that list and they were all directors.
a) (Non-cinema majors included - as of 4/16/10). So it's apparently a list of Cinematic Arts grads containing ¿famous? cinematictians who were not Cinematic Arts grads. Z-man would call this flawed if it involved climate.
b) The above notwithstanding, how does this list compare to the list of grads who never found work in Cinematic Arts? That list might be many times longer than the ¿famous list?, or maybe not. Aside from fraudulent degrees, which comprise most of the BA granted in the US, there are four big causes of unemployment among men:
1. automation--This affects all jobs at all levels, but it is especially hard on semi- and unskilled workers. 2. women in the work force--They have displaced men. 3. immigration--The immigrants largely displace poor blacks by competition and violent ethnic cleansing. See LA, which is the future for much of the Southwest. 4. globalization--Unskilled, semiskilled and STEM workers are in direct competition with workers overseas. Note that this includes engineers, scientists, financiers, doctors and lawyers. So, working class people have seen their real incomes decline for at least 30 years. They vote for socialism out of desperation. Middle class people have stagnant real incomes over the same period. Only the upper class have rising real incomes. The upper class directly benefits from each of the four causes listed above, so they will continue to implement them. Eventually, the US will become like Mexico: a small, rich, White elite presiding over poor Whites, Browns and Blacks. Elections will continue just as in the USSR, and with the same result. We are pretty close. We know learn that some high-ranking person in the White House has threatened Bob Woodward with retaliation for honest reporting. And the rest of the press is defending the White House. I don't see how women can displace men from jobs unless men had the exclusive right to them in the first place. You could just as well say men are displacing women from jobs, which is awfully unfair in this tight job market. Move aside, boys!
Like one of my best performers used to say to me when I had responsibilities (early '70s): "I love my job and I love my boss."
My mother told me 2 months after I graduated from college when I worried about figuring out how I would support myself/live - "We will help you find work; we will help you find an apartment."
Most young grads need a boot in the butt to realize that they are fully capable of taking care of themselves. Very few figure out on their own where and how to look for an apartment, where and how to find an acceptable job (i.e. you gotta start in an entry level position), where and how to manage your own dang life. But letting the guy stew and moan while being supported and coddled by parents will get this guy nowhere. Guess what? If this guy had no place to go, he would suddenly find out that job at McDonald's and that tiny studio apartment on the not-so-great side of town really aren't that bad after all. It is mysterious to me. When I was sixteen I couldn't wait to be on my own, and the Marines beckoned, thankfully. The savior of what could have been a misplaced life, or something. The military has righted many a topsy youth, not their job really, but they know how to do it nonetheless. Sorry for off topic.
"but I'm so depressed over my state in life I can't seem to find the energy to care enough to survive."
Here's the problem. Somehow this has become acceptable and it's ok to mooch off your parents for this reason. But the parents are to blame too - time to give this kid the boot. |